GAINSWave® Treatment in Waxhaw, NC

To help inform voters in the Nov. 4, 2025, election, this candidate questionnaire is available to be republished by local publications in North Carolina without any cost. Please consider to help make this coverage possible.

Name: Alex Montalvo

Email: alexmrpg@msn.com

Political party: Nonpartisan

Age: 64

Campaign website or social media page: N/A

Occupation: IBMi EDI Coordinator Parkdale Mills

Education: Vocational Degree

Have you run for and/or held elected office before? list previous offices sought and/or held): No.

Since 2010, Waxhaw has doubled in population. How do you plan to manage this growth while also ensuring the town remains one of the most desirable places to live in Union County?

My main concern. We desperately need to control over development without improving infrastructure and Roadways to accommodate the influx of our existing population.

Amid rapid growth, what are your plans to improve road infrastructure around the town’s congested corridors?

New traffic devices and widening of the roads in and out of Waxhaw

Waxhaw is primarily comprised of single-family homes within masterplanned communities. What is your stance on mixed-use developments or higher density housing in the town?

We need to limit the use of our homes as rental havens without moderation and stop developers from squandering land for development under the table.

How will you collaborate with your fellow council members to make decisions and create policy in the best interest of Waxhaw residents?

Meetings

What separates you from your opponents and makes you the best choice on November’s ballot?

I want Waxhaw to be a place to live and work without being, overcrowded also I want our growing community to thrive and provide a way for our youth to enjoy parks and recreation to keep them out of trouble.

A few weeks ago, I saw a TikTok post from a woman who was trying the viral fruit pastries at Daily Grind Coffee Bar in Waxhaw. I practically sprinted to my computer to send a Slack message to my colleague Tamia Boyd about it: I just knew she had to try them.

Tamia lives an hour+ away from downtown Waxhaw — she’s over in West Charlotte. Even so, she was as stoked as I was and was down for the adventure. It took a couple of weeks for her to coordinate to get down there — the coffee shop sells out of these quickly, and it takes a few days to make more.

Not your mama’s fruit cake

What are these viral “fruit pastries” anyway? I have heard them called “fruit cakes,” too but as a child of the 1980s, that inspires a whole different image. These are not the weird-tasting dried fruit cakes that no one ate at the holidays.

No, these fruit pastries are a true art: They are lifelike cakes that are decorated to look just like fruit (or coffee beans, nuts, etc.) — but once you bite into their crunchy exteriors, you find yourself enjoying a “super fluffy, moist and delicate” cake, according to Tamia’s experience. More on that in a moment.

French pastry chef Céseix Grolet is credited for making these desserts popular, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Where to get viral fruit pastries around Charlotte

A few local spots to try:

Getting to Waxhaw on a Friday morning

I really wanted Tamia to try Daily Grind’s pastries, since they look so lifelike on social media. I knew it wasn’t the closest drive for her, but she was a good sport.

She left her house at 8:50 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 10 to get her hands on these treats. GPS predicted a 50-minute drive, but she got there just before 10 a.m. after hitting a little traffic. “I parked immediately because I saw how many people were sitting outside and a tiny glimpse inside and saw that there was a line,” she said.

The line was shorter than we’d expected, but there was still a wait.

“When I got to the door, I waited outside for a bit because there was no room inside for me to get in. Three other women got in line behind me,” Tamia told me Friday afternoon. “There had to have been at least 10 people ahead of me, but also more people off to the side waiting for their food and drinks. I waited for about 25 minutes before getting my dessert.”

She met a new friend in line, Crystal Culp from Lancaster, who had been waiting for about three weeks to try a fruit pastry. “I really want to experience what it’s like, the taste and everything,” she told Tamia. “They made it look so beautiful on TikTok.”

When Tamia got to the counter, the only flavors that remained were pear and espresso. The cashier told her there were just a few fruit cakes left. She chose pear and forked over a whopping $21. Yep, for one pastry.

Crystal got espresso, for the record, and she took it home to enjoy it with her daughter, so we don’t know what she thought of hers.

By 11 a.m., Tamia said she saw people leaving empty-handed, so it’s a good thing she made the drive when she did.

How did it taste? Was it worth $21?

Here’s what Tamia had to say about her pear cake: “It looked like an actual pear, down to the glossy skin that looked like something candied. I almost didn’t want to touch it. The shell was delicate, like it would crack easily, and inside was this soft, cloudlike, mousse-layered cake with bits of fruit,” Tamia said.

“... Almost like it was soaked, like tres leches,” she added. “The flavor wasn’t in-your-face pear but more like cream with a soft fruity afterthought.”

But was it good? “Truly, before I could think about if I liked it, it was gone,” she told me. “Needless to say, I know why people were selling these cakes out now.” So, to wrap it up, Tamia spent an hour and 10 minutes-ish in the car one-way to spend $21 spent on a pastry that was gone in a blink. So, was it worth it? “I think so, at least for the experience,” she said.

I’ll add: Having an expense account probably didn’t hurt, either!

Daily Grind Coffee Bar

Location: 116 E South Main St, Waxhaw, NC 28173

Instagram: @daily.grind.waxhaw

Uniquely Charlotte: Uniquely Charlotte is an Observer subscriber collection of moments, landmarks and personalities that define the uniqueness (and pride) of why we live in the Charlotte region.

Waxhaw commissioners voted Tuesday night on The Views at Olivia, a new apartment community. Neighbors voice concerns over growth, roads, schools, and infrastructure.

WAXHAW, N.C. — Waxhaw town leaders approved a new development project that has faced opposition from the town's residents.

At a meeting on Sept. 23, commissioners voted to approve a rezoning application on The Views at Olivia, a new community that would bring more than 300 apartments to Waxhaw Parkway East. The motion passed 3-2.

Some neighbors are concerned the project could put too much pressure on roads, schools, and local services.

RELATED: 'Developers are put before the residents' | Frustration grows over abundance of housing units proposed and approved in Waxhaw

Others say it goes against the town’s plan for how land should be used, takes away space that could be used for businesses and jobs, and doesn’t include enough parking or infrastructure to support the new homes.

“There’s no logical reason for them to be voting this stuff in,” resident Joe Lapos said.

With more than 4,700 housing units already planned, residents say growth is moving too fast and their voices aren't being heard.

“It’s unfortunate — developers come first and residents come last," added Erin Muldon, another Waxhaw resident. "We’re showing up, no one is showing up in favor of these high-density developments, and they keep voting them through."

At the Waxhaw Board of Commissioners meeting on Aug. 26, commissioners found there to be some merits for the project but recommended additional conditions.

Updated staff recommendations and modifications:

Tuesday night's vote will give commissioners three options: Adopt the rezoning as originally presented, adopt with modifications outlined above, or deny adoption of the petition.

Developers for another large project, Southpoint — which would bring 134 townhomes and 252 single-family homes — held a community meeting on Sept. 8. That project is not up for a vote yet, but the meeting highlighted the ongoing tensions over how quickly the town is growing.

Back in late August, two commissioners attempted to make a motion to deny the project, but were outvoted 3-2.

The Pine Oak Road closure starts Sept. 17 for roundabout construction.

WAXHAW, N.C. — Pine Oak Road will be closed to through traffic from NC-16 to Waxhaw-Marvin Road starting Wednesday, Sept. 17, for construction of a new roundabout and road realignment project.

The closure is expected to last approximately two months, though the timeline depends on weather conditions and construction progress. The project involves building the new Prescott Glen Parkway–Pine Oak Road roundabout as part of ongoing development in the area.

Traffic impact and access

During the closure, Pine Oak Road will be completely closed to through traffic between the two intersections. However, local access will be maintained for residents and essential services within the closed section, including mail delivery and trash pickup.

"We know construction projects can be frustrating, and we appreciate your patience as this important safety improvement moves forward," town leaders said in a news release.

Detour routes will be clearly marked to guide drivers around the construction zone. Officials are urging motorists not to drive around barricades, citing safety concerns and potential conflicts with construction crews and equipment.

Project plan

The roundabout construction is a developer-led initiative designed to improve traffic safety and flow in the area as work continues on a new Lowes Foods grocery store. The enhanced roadway infrastructure is intended to better handle increased traffic from the upcoming retail development.

Originally, the project was scheduled to be completed before the start of the school year. However, construction was delayed while Union County Water worked to complete necessary permits for the project.

With permits now secured, construction is actively underway. The entire project is expected to be finished by the end of 2025.

Additional information about the project is available on the town's website.

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WAXHAW, N.C. — The town of Waxhaw is recovering from a cybercriminal attack.

Bradley Lucore, the town’s communication director, said it all began on Friday when they started to notice irregularities in their network. They sent employees home.

“Our IT department shut down the network and took some proactive measures to protect us,” said Lucore.

He said they called in the North Carolina Joint Cyber Security Task Force and other agencies, who are helping them with the forensics investigation and recovery process. Lucore said they learned criminals got access to the town servers but at this point, no evidence shows they got any data with personal information.

Today employees returned to town hall, laptops in hand to be checked.

“The investigation is ongoing,” said Lucore. “They’ve been looking to see how the actor got in. As far as recovering, we’re basically building a new network.”

Clark Walton, a cyber security expert in Charlotte, said towns may have valuable information that hackers could use and that there’s a number of ways hackers could have broken in.

Preliminary information from the town said the bad actor accessed its system to create disruptions. Walton said this is called a “nuisance cyber attack,” although it’s still unclear if that was the hacker’s only goal.

“Bad guys will do that to gain notoriety and say, ‘you know, I hacked such and such. I hacked this hospital, I hacked this Twitter account.’ Whatever it may be, it’s certainly a possibility.”

The town said it will take a while for its IT department to rebuild the network. For now, people should be able to access town services as normal.

VIDEO: Proposed parking garage sparks concerns in downtown Waxhaw

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