FARMINGTON — Franklin County commissioners voted Tuesday to give Register of Probate Joyce Morton permission to dispose of an old metal, multidrawer file system used for storing trifold estate maps.

If the system is going to be sold for junk, bids must be submitted. Any money made on the disposal of the units will go back to the county.

Morton is getting a new shelving, filing system on tracks for the vault in the Office of Probate.

Currently, the back wall of the vault is lined with the old filing system that is about 10 feet tall by 15 feet long. There are numerous pullout drawers with handles and some with pullout work shelves. Each drawer is 4.5 inches wide by 13.5 inches long. Each holds several estate maps. In the new system, the estate maps will lie flat.

Morton told commissioners that all of the pullout metal drawers need to go away so the new shelving file system can be installed.

None of the other departments in the building want the system, Morton said, and there is no place in the county courthouse to store them.

She spoke to a representative of the Farmington Historical Society to see if they were interested in the drawers or a section of drawers, Morton said.

The society would like a portion of the drawers, she said, but not all.

Commissioner Fred Hardy of New Sharon said commissioners should first see what the society is interested in.

If people come in and want them to sell for junk, there should be bids submitted and the remainder should go to the highest bidder, he said.

There is also metal framing for files in the attic of the courthouse, Morton said, that could be disposed of as well.

Farmington Historical Society member Nancy Porter, who was at the Probate Office on Tuesday, said members are excited about getting a portion of the system.

It appears the organization is interested in about taking two-thirds of the unit that includes pullout shelves.

That still leaves many drawers that will need to be removed.

dperry@sunjournal.com

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