From staff reports
aostmeyer@joplinglobe.com
TREECE, Kan. — A second public meeting will be held Monday for Treece residents seeking a federal buyout.
The meeting is scheduled for 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Picher, Okla., City Hall, 101 N. Connell. A meeting on Jan. 28 attracted 90 people interested in gathering information about the buyout. Since then, members of a buyout trust have been named.
Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson this week appointed five Southeast Kansas residents to the state public trust charged with administering the buyout of Treece residents. They are Gene Bicknell, Jim Dahmen, John Delmont Jr., Eddie Hamilton and Betty McBride.
The trust will make final decisions regarding the buyout of Treece, which is contaminated by waste from decades of lead and zinc mining.
“The residents of Treece have been waiting many years to begin the relocation process, and with these appointments, we are one step closer to making this a reality,” Parkinson said in a statement.
n Bicknell, Pittsburg, is the creator of five companies, including NPC International Inc. and Pitt Plastics. He also served on numerous boards and councils and was previously appointed by former Gov. Mike Hayden to the statewide economic development task force. In 2004, he was named Ernst & Young's Master Entrepreneur of the Year and has been bestowed a lifetime achievement award for supporting projects that encourage quality of life for Kansans.
n Dahmen, Columbus, has been the general manager of Columbus Telephone Co., with the Independent Telephone Cooperative, for 25 years. He, too, has served on many councils and boards throughout the years, and was a former chairman of the Kansas Technology Enterprise Corp. and the Kansas Telecommunications Industry Association. Dahmen also served as a trustee for Mid America Inc./SEK Inc., a 10-county economic development organization for Southeast Kansas.
n Delmont, Columbus, served as a Cherokee County commissioner for 20 years. He served on the Kansas County Association Multi-line Pool (KCAMP) Insurance Board and was a past president of the Kansas County Commissioners Association Board and the Kansas Association of Counties Board. He is a lifelong resident of Cherokee County and a cattle rancher and farmer.
n Hamilton, Columbus, is a retired postal worker and a former Cherokee County Commission chairman. He has served on the Kansas Highway Advisory Commission, as the chairman of the Maude Norton Memorial Hospital Board and as a member of the Southeast Kansas Regional Planning Commission Board.
n McBride, Columbus, is a former Cherokee County treasurer and director of the Division of Vehicles for the state of Kansas. She spent almost 25 years as the chief financial officer of Cherokee County before being appointed to oversee the Division of Vehicles in 1991. She is a current member of the Kansas Board of Healing Arts and was previously on the board of directors for the Kansas Development Finance Authority as well as a past president of the Kansas County Treasurers Association.
The governor's appointments are subject to Kansas Senate confirmation.
