GAINSWave® Treatment in Cornelius, NC

Name: Denis Bilodeau

Age as of Nov. 7, 2023: 69

Campaign website or social media page: bilodeauformayor.com

Occupation: Retired Insurance Executive

Education: BS- Business Management University of Connecticut

Have you run for elected office before? (Please list previous offices sought or held)

2017 -2019 Commissioner, Town of Cornelius; 2019 -2021 Mayor Pro Tem, Town of Cornelius; 2021 -2023 Commissioner, Town of Cornelius

Please list your highlights of civic involvement

Founding Board Member - Cain Center for the Arts; Past President - Rotary Club Of North Mecklenburg; Past President- Peninsula Property Owners Association; Board Member - Kings Point Village Association and Bayshore Condo Owners Association; Two-term Cornelius Park Commissioner; Former Board Member Visit Lake Norman and LKN Chamber; Former Board Member Arts and Science Council

What are, in your view, the most important issues facing Cornelius, and what would your approach be to handling them if elected?

Traffic congestion has consistently been identified by citizens as the biggest drain on the quality of life in Cornelius. Safety is also very important in our town and on the lake. Although there are several NCDOT approved projects scheduled for our roads, we should not wait for NCDOT to move forward on Town managed and paid for improvements. As mayor, I will set an agenda with focus and urgency to address traffic congestion, bike lane and pedestrian cross walk safety. I will advocate for using some of our surplus funds to address these needs and others within our town’s capability.

Communities across Mecklenburg County have seen growth and development as well as a hot real estate market in recent years. How should Cornelius approach development and housing issues?

The town’s new Land Use Plan emphasizes commercial over residential development in order to better balance our property tax mix. There are several approved projects which have not yet come out of the ground. We should take this time to address infrastructure and road needs.

What separates you from your opponent(s)?

I have great respect for the office of mayor. There are however, significant areas of difference on the “business side” of the mayor’s responsibility that came to light during this past budget review.. After six straight years of budget surplus, I advocated for a “revenue neutral” tax change .I believe it was especially important to hold the line this year in view of the property revaluation increase and the county’s tax hike. The mayor argued for a double digit / two penny tax increase. I will continue to take a fiscally conservative approach and respect the value of our taxpayer’s hard earned money. A second issue is setting an agenda that lacks urgency. A recent example is the establishment of a six month Transportation Task Force to advise the town’s Transportation Advisory Board, which advises the Town Board. The stated delivery date for the Task Force is December 2023,. Unfortunately, a decision must be made by end of October 2023 to meet NCDOT deadlines for discretionary funds. I understand that activity does not equal action. As mayor, I will set an agenda that responds with urgency.

What one professional or political accomplishment are you most proud of?

As a town commissioner, I have been involved with many decisions that served to improve the quality of life in Cornelius. I am especially proud of a recent budget amendment I advocated for and introduced to add a School Resource Officer for both of our elementary schools. Protecting our children is a high priority and passion for me.

This story was originally published October 9, 2023, 6:00 AM.

Projects like Lagoona Bay and the Birkdale Village expansion may have been shut down in north Mecklenburg County, but Mills Market is moving full speed ahead.

CORNELIUS, N.C. — A brand new development could be coming to Catawba Ave. in Cornelius.

Mills Market would bring 12,000-square-feet of ground floor commercial space and more than 200 multi-family apartments downtown. Highline Partners is the developer spearheading the project.

"It provides more restaurants, food and beverage establishments that people can enjoy," Highline's Mark Miller said at a planning board meeting last month.

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The Cornelius town board is holding a public hearing Monday night at 6 p.m. to talk rezoning and development agreement requests. The proposed agreement is a partnership with the town of Cornelius to construct a minimum of 130 public parking stalls and “the conveyance of access, utility and solid waste receptacle easements”.

Some people in Cornelius are excited about what Mills Market will bring, but others are apprehensive about the traffic impacts and losing the “small town" feel.

RELATED: Cornelius planning board approves downtown 'Mills Market'

The town board and Highline Partners say they’re taking these things into consideration before breaking ground.

Contact Destiny Richards at drichards5@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.

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As of Tuesday evening, the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office is investigating 16 complaints against the company.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - Customers of a local flooring company have been contacting WBTV for several weeks, saying they paid deposits for flooring and carpet work that was never completed.

As of Tuesday evening, 16 people filed complaints with the North Carolina Attorney General’s office against Flowers Flooring, which has locations in Cornelius and Winston Salem.

Renovations are in full swing at Lauren Trapuzzano’s house in Davidson.

She and her husband had expected new carpeting to be part of the project.

“We decided to purchase the carpet for the home before we even closed on the house,” Trapuzzano said.

She says they purchased the carpet as part of a 50% deal in June, and it was supposed to be installed by July. It was later delayed to August.

“I noticed the store hours dwindling, and then last week it was by appointment only,” Trapuzzano said of the Cornelius showroom. “Monday morning [August 21st] I called first thing, and that’s when the phones were off and the website was down.”

She says she wants her almost $6,000 dollar deposit back, and she’s not alone.

Her husband is one of at least 16 customers to file a complaint against Flowers Flooring with the North Carolina Attorney General as of Tuesday, August 29th.

That number of complaints is up from 10 filed by Thursday, August 24th.

Tom Bartholomy, the President of Better Business Bureau of Southern Piedmont and Western North Carolina, told WBTV they have received 14 complaints about Flowers Flooring.

The complaints to the BBB and the Attorney General’s Office center around issues at both Cornelius and Winston-Salem locations.

“This company isn’t doing any work, and they’ve taken my deposit,” Pat Stein, another customer, told WBTV.

Stein says he paid an almost $2,000 dollar deposit and Flowers Flooring never did any work.

Stein filed a small claims suit against the company owner Jeremy Flowers.

WBTV’s Caroline Hicks tried calling and texting Jeremy Flowers over the course of several days, but he did not answer.

According to state records, his company is still active.

Hicks also stopped by his house in Mooresville, but it is empty and real estate records show it’s up for sale.

It’s not just customers who are concerned about the company.

Greg Mays, a contracted employee, says he managed online ads for Flowers Flooring for a year and a half.

“May was the first time I had a late payment and it was significantly late,” Mays said. “I found out at that time that the billing or the accounting person that would usually pay my payments had been fired.”

He says the company owes him roughly $12,000 dollars.

Andrew Gleaves, with Blue Ridge Trucking Solutions LLC., stopped by the Cornelius storefront after he says he noticed he was not being paid on time for his work as a vendor.

“We recycle their carpet and carpet padding,” Gleaves said.

He says he noticed his May payment was late, but there was no one at the storefront to speak with about it.

Gleaves noticed other people voicing their concerns on social media, so he decided to start this Facebook group called Flowers Flooring Owes Us Money.

“To not pay your employees, not pay your vendors, I just don’t know why someone would walk away from that,” he said.

If you believe you are a victim, you are encouraged to contact the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office by clicking here.

Copyright 2023 WBTV. All rights reserved.

CORNELIUS, N.C. — More people, including a local nonprofit, have contacted Action 9 saying they gave a flooring store in Cornelius money, but it didn’t do the work, and now it looks like the business has closed.

ALSO READ: Lake Norman flooring store appears closed, multiple customers worry they’re out thousands

Connie Wessner walked Action 9′s Jason Stoogenke through the plans for new floors for a 95-year-old woman who she says needs the floors desperately.

“They’ve been maintained really well. There’s just no life left in them,” she said.

Wessner runs the Davidson Housing Coalition and one of its programs, “Hammers,” fixes people’s homes.

She says the group hired Flowers Flooring for the 95-year-old’s project and put down half of the cost in the beginning of July. Then the store shut suddenly.

“[I feel] gutted,” she said.

Others can relate. Seventeen people have now contacted Action 9 about the flooring company. In total, they say they paid the company $115,012 and didn’t get flooring or refunds.

“They have been so, so patient and to have to call last week and say we have to start all over again was heart-wrenching,” Wessner said. “We’ll get it done, that flooring is going to get replaced, but I’m now out $2,700 I didn’t really have to start with, and now I’ve got to start again.”

ALSO READ: Woman says she’s selling home after HOA’s lien against it

Action 9 tried to contact Flowers Flooring and its owner multiple times and multiple ways since August 25, but no one responded in time for this report.

If this happened to you:

- Report it to the state attorney general.

- If you paid with a credit card, dispute it right away.

- You can always sue in small claims court if you feel it’s worth the time, energy, and money.

VIDEO: ‘I feel ripped off’: Victim says check washing scam cost him $5K

The duo admitted they didn't tell investors the whole story about their operation.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A pair of Cornelius businessmen pleaded guilty in federal court this week to wire fraud conspiracy charges for conducting what prosecutors called a large-scale, Ponzi-style investment scheme that went on for 12 years.

The U.S. District Attorney's Office said Marlin Hershey and Dana Bradley, both 53 years old, kept the scheme going from 2009 until 2021. The duo defrauded several victims who invested in two unregistered securities offerings they promoted: Retire on Rentals and Distressed Lending Fund (DLF). Both projects eventually failed, inflicting major losses on investors.

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The duo was able to court investors by giving them materials with false and misleading statements without disclosing material information. For example, neither of the men shared they received commission-like payments based on the number of investments they sold - typically 10% of an investor's initial investment - plus additional payments when investors extended investments. Rather, they claimed nobody would be paid a commission.

In reality, the businessmen got hundreds of thousands of dollars in undisclosed payments from the sale of securities, along with regular undisclosed "management fees" from both Retire on Rentals and DLF.

Hershey and Bradley also didn't tell investors about other details, including negative information about themselves and the financial woes faced by some of the entities they solicited investments for. Since the pair often solicited the same group of investors, they took steps to hide the financial difficulties by making undisclosed loans to other entities. In turn, those entities could make the required interest payments to investors.

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The duo also solicited new investors and used the new money coming in to repay the loans and make Ponzi-style payments to previous investors. Additionally, they sent investors periodic performance reports that failed to disclose the status and health of their investments.

It wouldn't be until 2019 that investors learned for the first time that the projects they invested in were in financial distress and could no longer meet significant obligations.

Both men pleaded guilty on Friday, June 2, 2023. They were released on bond, but could each face up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 maximum. Sentencing dates are not yet set.

The Securities Division of the North Carolina Secretary of State's Office and the FBI led the joint investigation.

WCNC Charlotte is always asking "where's the money?" If you need help, reach out to WCNC Charlotte by emailing money@wcnc.com.