PARIS — The Oxford County Commission purchased a gold-plated Oxford County commemorative rifle Tuesday from the Albert Silver family of Greenwood.

The family gave commissioners the first option to purchase the special rifle that was obtained by their father, Clifford Morse, in 1999. Commissioners Timothy Turner, Steven Merrill and David Duguay agreed to buy it for $3,500. The rifle, which one person who inspected it thought was a Colt model, 94 Winchester, has Oxford County engraved on it and has engravings of a woodcutter and a fisherman.

Commissioners said Sheriff Christopher Wainwright, a gun collector, inspected the rifle and said $3,500 was a fair price. They are looking into obtaining a glass case to display it at the courthouse in Paris.

In other business, commissioners approved a tax anticipation note for $500,000 from Norway Savings Bank to cover any potential short-term cash shortages while awaiting payments of county taxes.

A request by Todd Sawyer, Waterford selectman and road agent for the county, to extend the winter maintenance agreement for three years was approved. The agreement, which will be reviewed annually, is with Wilson Excavation of Waterford to maintain roads in southern Albany Township, Duguay said Tuesday evening. The company has had the job for 12 years he said.

The board approved the contracts for one school resource officer for Regional School Unit 10, which includes Mountain Valley and Buckfield high schools, and two officers for Regional School Unit 55, which includes Sacopee Valley HIgh School in Hiram. The school districts will pay the county $38,000 for each officer, which includes salary, Social Security, insurance, professional liability and operation costs, such as uniforms, air cards for computers, licenses, fuel and maintenance for a vehicle, and safety equipment.

A promotion for Rosemarie Burns from part-time to a full-time corrections officer was approved.

In addition to approving a liquor license for Black Brook Cove Campground in Lincoln Plantation, commissioners authorized the sale of liquor to be consumed on the premises where sold in each unorganized territory in Oxford County. They also gave permission for the state to permit the operation of agency liquor stores in the unorganized territories.

County Administrator Donald Durrah reviewed the deorganization process for Magalloway Plantation, which will cease to exist and become an unorganized territory on July 1. Errol, New Hampshire, will cover its fire and rescue needs, while the county will oversee the cemetery and waste transfer station.

“There will be inconveniences that none of us can foresee,” Durrah said.

The Maine Legislature approved the deorganization request by Magalloway’s residents in 2019.

Commissioners heard a presentation from Mike Wilson, the senior program director for the Northern Forest Center, and Fletcher Kittredge, the CEO of GWI, about the need for broadband in rural areas of the county.

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