Marshfield Select Board Approves Solar Lease Worth $1 Million a Year

MARSHFIELD — April 21, 2026 — Marshfield Select Board locks in $1 million-a-year solar lease and eyes $275,000 in new permit revenue as budget fight deepens. The two-member board voted unanimously April 21 to approve a 20-year solar energy lease with NextGrid for the Clay Pit Road landfill, secured by a 125-percent removal bond and including three optional five-year extensions with annual rent escalation; special outside counsel Elise Zoli called the deal "remarkably robust" for a landfill-based solar facility. Building Commissioner Andrew Stewart presented a fee schedule overhaul — the first since November 2018 — that would raise the minimum permit fee from $40 to $100 and shift to a $13-per-thousand-dollars-of-contract-cost structure, projecting annual building revenue would rise from roughly $1.1 million to $1.5 million, though the board deferred a vote. The most contentious item was a bid by Chair Bob Kelly to appoint James Crider as temporary town administrator, which Vice Chair Eric Darcy immediately rejected as "an inappropriate usurpation of the citizen search committee process." Resident Pam Keith argued at length that both Budget B and the budget articles 3B and 3C on the town meeting warrant do not legally require a Proposition 2½ override, a position Town Counsel Bob Galvin disputed; Finance Director Peter Morin said the town accountant's analysis shows Budget B requires a $4 million override once cherry sheet assessments and overlay reserve funding are included.