By DAVID BORAKS
CorneliusNews.net

Cornelius expects to begin registering commercial and residential security alarms Feb. 1 and could begin issuing fines May 1 for excessive false alarms, police Chief Bence Hoyle told the Town Board Monday night. Commissioners adopted the new rules in October to deal with a rising number of false alarms. Read the full story

The Cornelius Town board is scheduled to hold a public hearing and vote Monday night on a proposed 88-unit residential development called Bailey Forest off Bailey Road, east of W.A. Hough High School and near Barnhardt Road in Davidson. The project comes before commissioners with two negative recommendations, from the Cornelius Planning Board and the town planning staff. IN REAL ESTATE & HOME»

McGuire Nuclear Station (Duke Energy photo)

Local emergency officials will test emergency sirens at midday Wednesday at both McGuire Nuclear Station on Lake Norman and the Mountain Island Hydro Station. The tests will be heard across the area, but require no public action. Read the full story

By DAVID BORAKS
CorneliusNews.net

Cornelius commissioners will start Monday night’s Town Board meeting with a changing of the guard as Mayor Jeff Tarte resigns to join the state Senate, and Lynette Rinker becomes interim mayor. The meeting also is expected to include a vote on a proposed 88-unit residential project off Bailey Road and more discussion of I-77 toll lanes.

The meeting begins at 7pm in the Town Board meeting room at Town Hall, 21445 Catawba Ave.

The board also will hold its usual 8am agenda preview meeting at the Acropolis Restaurant, 20659 Catawba Ave., and a 6pm “pre-meeting,” where commissioners and Planning Board members will will get a review of the town’s quasi-judicial and legislative process for rezonings. Read the full story

Kurt Naas gave a presentation at Thursday’s Cornelius Transportation Advisory Board meeting. (David Boraks/CorneliusNews.net)

Updated Friday, 5:54am
By DAVID BORAKS
CorneliusNews.net

The Cornelius Transportation Advisory Board on Thursday came out against proposed toll lanes for I-77 north of Charlotte and urged local leaders to push for alternatives for widening the congested highway.

In a special meeting at Town Hall, the advisory board of local residents unanimously approved a resolution calling tolls a “financial burden” on Lake Norman area residents. The statement also argued that the state’s toll-financed widening plan won’t improve commuting times on I-77.

Cornelius Commissioner Dave Gilroy told CorneliusNews.net Friday he hopes to bring the issue up again at the Town Board on Monday night. Read the full story

Brenda Lord has moved her SweetCakes cupcake bakery from downtown Cornelius to bigger quarters in the Fresh Market plaza. (David Boraks/CorneliusNews.net)

By DAVID BORAKS
CorneliusNews.net

SweetCakes Bakery started in 2008 in Brenda Lord’s Huntersville kitchen, where she baked cupcakes for sale Saturday mornings at Davidson Farmer’s Market. Later, she opened a storefront on North Main Street in downtown Cornelius, where demand for her cupcakes has continued to grow. On Wednesday she graduated yet again, to a bigger location in the Fresh Market shopping center off West Catawba Ave.

The bakery is a Lake Norman small business success story. Read the full story

Aquesta Bank and Aquesta Insurance Agency on Wednesday announced the sale of Aquesta’s employee benefits practice to Lake Norman Benefits Inc., of Mooresville. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The bank said the unit was a small part of its insurance business.

Here’s the text of Aquesta’s announcement:

Aquesta Bank and Aquesta Insurance Agency, Inc (AISI) Announces the Sale of AISI’s Benefits Practice

CORNELIUS, NC – January 3, 2013 — Aquesta Bank and its wholly owned subsidiary (AISI) announced today the sale of its employee benefits practice to Lake Norman Benefits, Inc in Mooresville. Aquesta’s benefits practice represents one facet of AISI’s insurance offerings. While AISI is primarily an independent insurance agency offering commercial and personal property and casualty insurance, AISI also contained a smaller business unit focused on employee benefits (e.g., medical, supplemental life and disability insurance).

Denis Bilodeau, President of AISI, explained that the sale of this single unit will allow AISI to focus on continued growth of its primary insurance line for property and casualty insurance while also providing a broader product and service offerings through Lake Norman Benefits, Inc. to the former AISI benefits customers.

David C. Contorno, President and CEO Lake Norman Benefits stated “Acquiring the employee benefits business unit from Aquesta is an important part in our 2013 growth plans.  While our intrinsic growth has been, and continues to be, outstanding – this type of growth-through-acquisition give us the advantage of increased economies of scale that will allow us to provide all of our clients with even higher levels of service than those which they have become accustomed to from Lake Norman Benefits.”

Jim Engel, President and CEO of Aquesta Bank (parent of AISI), said “I’m excited that we were able to complete this transaction prior to year end. Although the sale itself had only an immaterial impact on fourth quarter results, the accounting allows for release of significant intangible from our balance sheet with the effect of further strengthening our already strong tier 1 capital. Our agency can now focus on continuing to grow it’s primary business while our benefits customers receive excellent care with Lake Norman Benefits, Inc.”

Aquesta Bank is a commercial bank which serves the Lake Norman market with a focus on small to medium sized businesses and professionals. The Bank operates branches in Cornelius, Davidson and two in Mooresville. Aquesta Bank’s wholly owned independent insurance agency (Aquesta Insurance Services, Inc.) has offices in Cornelius, Concord, Mooresville and Wilmington.

An example of a high-occupancy toll-lane. (SOURCE: NCDOT)

The Cornelius Transportation Advisory Board will hold a special meeting Thursday night to discuss the plans for high-occupancy toll lanes on I-77 north of Charlotte. Meanwhile, the toll-lanes issue also is the subject of a meeting Jan. 14 called by a new anti-toll group called Widen I-77. Read the full story