At the October 26th Oakland Township Board meeting, the Board made a decision to change the vendor who leases the commercial space at the Paint Creek Cider Mill. Their decision was not unanimously supported. Three of the Board members wanted to retain the current provider who is Paint Creek Cider Mill LLC. The four other Board members supported changing the vendor to Cookies and Cream/ Sprout Bake. This change will take effect in January of 2022.
The type of food available to Oakland Township citizens and those using the Paint Creek Trail will change dramatically. The current vendor has a fairly large menu with Pizza, sandwiches, wraps, salads, and miscellaneous items. The new vendor will sell ice cream, baked goods, and indicated that they would bring in sandwiches from other suppliers not at that location.
Attached is a copy of the menu from the current vendor:
Attached is a copy of the proposed business plan from Cookies and Cream:
The decision by the Board will significantly change the character of the Paint Creek Cider Mill, and the character of that facility in Goodison.
The Board’s decision is probably irreversible, but you may want to share your thoughts on their decision at their next meeting, which is scheduled for November 9, 2021 at 7 PM at the Township Hall on Collins road, just north of the cider mill.
Oakland Township Watchers 
This is such a ridiculous change. Paint Creek Cider Mill has consistently good food, family owned… There are no restaurants in Goodison- I really don’t understand why this change was made. Is this new tenant coming in a friend of a board member or a family member? It just doesn’t pass the smell test. I sent an email in support of Paint Creek Cider Mill as soon on Tuesday afternoon because I couldn’t attend the meeting. I got zero reply.
You may want to go to next Tuesday’s meeting to express your opinion on their decision. It appears there is more to the story on why they approved the new vendor.
Thank you for doing this newsletter and I am sorry to see you stop. I did subscribe to the newspaper as you suggested but so far I find your blog much more informative!
This website is different from the one that Bob Yager published. I have not been very active on THIS website for some time for personal reasons. I may start posting more in the future. Thanks! You may want to go to next Tuesday’s meeting just to express you disagreement on their decision.
OK that explains my confusion… 😉 sigh. Thank you.
Richard- I got this explanation from Robin Buxar who voted in favor of the change. There was a lot of |community programâ involvement that helped sway the decision, that is possibly vaporware. No way to know. Also, the rent was halved with no explanation, other than that they will remodel the inside of the space. Not sure why OT is subsidizing that. Do leave me out of any further discussions, I have no use for the politics. Thanks, John
The new vendor’s plan is much more than “bring in sandwiches from other suppliers not at that location.” The sandwiches mentioned during were specifically from a catering business across the street from the cider mill. But the plan is for outside local businesses to be able to sell their food goods in the mill and for small businesses to work inside the mill to produce and sell their goods to visitors.
Here is what I have been emailing anyone with questions:
If you are interested in this issue, I would encourage you to watch the Board meetings where this issue was discussed:
Presentations, October 21 Board Meeting
https://videoplayer.telvue.com/…/KGL-y…/media/676723…
Discussion and Vote, October 26 Board Meeting
https://videoplayer.telvue.com/…/KGL-y…/media/677755…
The Paint Creek Cider Mill is owned by the township, and its residents. The Granchis, who own/operate “Paint Creek Cider Mill LLC”, have done a good job providing food and drink, while leasing the food service portion of the mill, and I think they would have continued doing a good job in the future. Ultimately though, I need to vote for what I feel is best for the township. Going forward, I feel the new tenant will be providing much more value to the township; it was a very impressive proposal and business plan. The Granchis are free to continue their business providing food and drink in another location, and I wish them all the best.
Please contact me with any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Andy Zale
Ms. Campbell withdrew from the license she was given and which was to be finalized via negotiation through a motion of the Board of Trustees. She was very gracious in her comments. Actions by social media, I have to say not this site, and efforts by Board members who voted for Mr.Granchi and comments by the Supervisor in my opinion made it impossible for her to continue.
I want to start out by saying thank you to all the people that have reached out to us with your support and love. It has meant so much to us. I apologize that I couldn’t attend in person. We are currently out of state at the North American Ice Cream Association national convention.
There has been a lot of painful misinformation spread via social media so first I would like to state the facts. Yes, I am President of the Rochester Regional Chamber of Commerce and have been for the last 5 years.
I gave notice this past May that I will be retiring at the end of this year to pursue working fulltime on our business. When I saw the RFP for the Paint Creek Cider Mill space on the Township website it was perfect timing for us to pursue a second location for our ice cream business and a larger kitchen for our Sprout Bake business.
Our concept included sharing the space with multiple food entrepreneurs, serving their amazing creations alongside our baked goods and ice cream, while also providing space for cooking classes and a kitchen studio where we could all produce educational and promotional videos to help market our products.
Through my work at the Rochester Regional Chamber and before that at the Orion Area Chamber, it has been my pleasure and greatest joy to work with hundreds of small businesses over the past decade and, as you can imagine intensely over the past 18 months, as we have worked to ensure all of our businesses have access to the resources they needed to survive this unprecedented world-wide pandemic. It was working with so many inspiring small businesses that gave me the confidence to start my own business.
Our goal, from the beginning, has been to provide the community with a unique and fun experience while serving the highest quality ice cream, and scratch-made cookies while giving back to and supporting the community. We’ve sponsored numerous local events, numerous Paint Creek Trail events and a plethora of school groups and non-profit fundraisers.
After much discussion and prayer, we have decided to withdraw our proposal. We were so excited for this opportunity. We followed the RFP process to the letter, submitted our proposal prior to the stated deadline, presented our proposal at a public township meeting and we were thrilled to be given notice that our proposal was selected. That joy quickly turned into heartache.
The misinformation and hurtful comments have saddened us to the core. The spread of misinformation and attacks claiming we somehow usurped the RFP process is simply not true. We followed the RFP protocols with the highest integrity. Being business owners for 3 years, we’ve never encountered an experience like this. It’s painful and deeply troubling.
We’ve come to the conclusion that we must take the high road. All the misinformation, and quite frankly lies about the RFP award, are indicative of where we are at emotionally in society right now. We can’t continue and be a part of this negativity and painful fighting. That’s simply not how we operate, that’s not how we raised our children and that’s not how we treat our community. We are a loving and forgiving family and we have to move on with grace and with our dignity intact, despite how painful and sad this experience has been.
We love this community and know there are so many amazing people and organizations here and we will continue to support all the wonderful local events just like we have in the past.
Sincerely,
Alaina Campbell
In an effort for clarity, I want to share the information that trustee Mabrey showed at the Board of Trustees meeting regarding the RFP process. This process has been used for many years and although it can be revised anytime, that revision should not take place after the fact.on this RFP. Ms. Campbell did everything appropriately and if anything Mr. Granchi was given a little nudge by the Township Manager. It should be noted that Treasurer Giannangeli had access to the same information that Mr. Mabrey used but evidently did not pursue it.
Paint Creek Cider Mill Concessionaire
Request for Proposal (RFP) Timeline
• 10/20/2020 Manager Kline emailed Mr. Granchi about signing extension for 2021 CY. Mr. Granchi replied he watched the BOT meeting (10/20/20), replied “sounds like I need to start working on a proposal for next year”.
• 7/21/2021 RFP posted on Oakland Township under bid opportunities and on State of Michigan bid net website per Township regular procedure (end date listed as 9/21/2021)
• 9/13/2021 No proposals received as of this date. Manager Kline emailed Mr. Granchi asking if he was aware of the RFP postings. Mr. Granchi replied, “No, I was not aware of the RFP.”
• 9/16/2021 Still NO PROPOSALS received, so Manager Kline, conforming to purchasing guidelines, extended the deadline to submit a proposal to 10/1/2021 and updated both web postings.
• 9/21/2021 Received proposal from Mr. Granchi via email at 1416.
• 9/30/2021 Received proposal from Ms. Campbell via email at 1123.
• 10/5/2021 Both proposals forwarded to the Board of Trustees.