Cartwright
Former Edinburgh Town Manager Dan Cartwright has a new gig as Bargersville’s incoming town manager.
Bargersville officials announced last week that Cartwright will take the helm as town manager starting Aug. 1. He replaces Julie Young, the former Bargersville town manager who resigned without explanation on June 28, a town spokesperson said. Young had been town manager since August 2019 and had been with the town since 2014. She was the planning director before her promotion to town manager.
Cartwright is coming to Bargersville after being town manager of Edinburgh for nearly a year and a half. He resigned from the job on July 3 to make the move to Bargersville where he had already accepted the job, he said.
He was approached about the town manager job by Bargersville officials weeks prior to his July 3 resignation from Edinburgh, Cartwright said. Bargersville town officials and a town spokesperson declined to confirm this, and would not comment if the town was searching for a new town manager prior to Young’s unexplained departure on June 28.
At first, Cartwright said he was hesitant about leaving Edinburgh, as he wasn’t looking for a new job. However, he felt Bargersville, as a growing town, could use his expertise, he said.
Cartwright has 35 years of commercial and real estate development experience, and owned D and F investments, a commercial and real estate development firm in Whiteland. He was also the project manager for Johnson County and helped the county commissioners manage big, recent building renovations including for the courthouse and jail. That experience is what Bargersville needs to develop, especially with the Interstate 69 expansion that will bring a new interchange at State Road 144, he said.
The town is also rapidly growing in size, as its population hit 10,000 in 2021, according to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.
“I just really feel that this is a town that can use utilize my expertise much, much greater,” Cartwright said.”I’ve spent my whole life looking at corn fields and bean fields, and sitting and trying to determine what’s the best use there, and how to make that into something productive.”
Leaving Edinburgh was a tough choice, though, he said. Cartwright was reluctant at first because he was happy there, but he came around the more he talked with Bargersville.
He’s developed good relationships with the elected officials, town staff and the citizens in Edinburgh. As town manager, a significant project Cartwright oversaw was the $5.6 million new water plant, which is currently under construction. He also played worked with other officials to plan the town’s bicentennial this year.
“We accomplished so much in Edinburgh, and I honestly, I really, I’m going to miss them,” Cartwright said.
Edinburgh Town Council President Ryan Piercefield is serving as interim town manager and Planning Director Wade Watson is assisting with duties while the town looks for a new town manager.
In Bargersville, Cartwright wants to be a leader in helping develop the land near the soon-to-be I-69 interchange for new commercial, retail, industrial or multi-use developments.
Another more immediate goal of Cartwright’s is to also work on redeveloping the old Bargersville Flea Market site. The town purchased the site this year, he said. The flea market shuttered permanently in 2019 following concerns about new solicitor fees and the cost to update facilities. Efforts to revive the market have been attempted in the last couple of years, but nothing came to fruition.
Cartwright wants to develop a request for proposal quickly to get developers interested, he said.
“That’s an area that we really want to see developed sooner,” Cartwright said.
Cartwright has another immediate goal once he starts: to get to know the town and its citizens and employees better, he said.
