Thanks Bill

At its October 15, 2007 meeting, the Granville School Board voted to authorize Superintendent Scot Prebles to begin discussions with his counterpart in the Newark School system over a possible transfer of territory.

Following a closed session prompted by William Kraner's threat of a law suit last week, the Board listened to the public input on the matter. The second speaker was a surprise. It was Bill Kraner himself.

He told the Board how he felt betrayed by Granville in all of this. After all, he had carpeted the elementary school, his daughter had gone to Granville schools, and he had tried to sell the land to Granville. He said that he never planned to build over 800 houses - that was the exuberance of students working for the firm he had hired for $40,000 to develop a site plan. He only wants 175 houses in Granville and 275 in Newark. That's all he ever wanted.

"I'll even give 10 acres for a school," he said, forgetting that the school district has the legal right to take by eminent domain as many acres as they need for a school.

“A hundred-seventy-five units is all,” he said.

He explained to the Board how he had tried to help with the levy campaign to raise the $12,000,000 to purchase his land for open space.

“I even paid their bills after they lost," he said referring to the open space committee. "That’s just the kind of guy I am.”

Kraner proposed, “we all work together.” He thought the Board should get input from the public and get this thing done.”

Finally, he said, “A Board member approached me to borrow money. I said no. Maybe someone has something against me.”

Well, thanks Bill for clearing that all up. We were concerned about those 800+ houses. But, why didn’t you correct our “misunderstanding” when you were trying to sell us your land? I'm sure you weren't trying to scare us with the possibility of 800+ houses, just like you now seem to be trying to scare a board member.