Inspector General Believes the Town of Marshfield Violated State Procurement Law

Letter from the Office of the Inspector General says that six solar leases are "presumptively Invalid", including one for the police station where a solar carport already stands

Town Counsel Bob Galvin tells Town Meeting that there will be financial consequences for the town if funding related to the leases is not approved

July 5, 2026 (Marshfield) — Last summer, Jeffrey Shapiro, the Inspector General for Massachusetts, declared six of Marshfield’s solar leases “presumptively invalid” for failure to follow the state procurement law for disposition of real property.

The letter followed an August 5, 2025 meeting at the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) with Interim Town Administrator Peter Morin, who is described as cooperating with the investigation into the leases.

“The OIG (Office of the Inspector General) believes that the town violated Chapter 30B in negotiating leases of town-owned property beyond what was contemplated in the RFP (request for proposal),” wrote Shapiro in a letter dated August 22, 2025. “Moreover, the terms were unfavorable to the town in that they significantly reduced the town’s available revenues.”

One of those leases was for the solar carport at the Marshfield Police Station, which has already been built. Another was for the DPW facilities at 965 Plain Street. Four additional leases were for solar facilities on four school roofs.

Public concern about the legality of these leases first arose at an April 23, 2024 Town Meeting, when former Town Administrator Michael Maresco tried to secure funding to prepare the school roofs for the solar contracts.

Town Counsel Bob Galvin told participants that if they did not approve a project, the town could face financial consequences.

“There’s an existing agreement with the solar company to install solar on these roofs,” said Galvin. “The solar company has expended a significant amount of money already to study what needs to be done to modify things and make this appropriate to do. There’s a financial consequence to the town in the event that we do not fulfill our obligations and appropriate money to put this on the roof.”