Whitman Housing Authority approves FY2027 plan, tables solar panel vote

WHITMAN -- July 13, 2026, Whitman Housing Authority approves its fiscal year 2027 capital plan and tables solar panel decision. The board unanimously adopted the annual plan at its July 13 meeting, greenlighting more than $2 million in projects including a $1,033,790 HILAP-grant-funded siding replacement at Pine Circle and Pinehaven Drive, a $577,833 state-funded exhaust fan installation, and a $357,000 paving project, most of it paid through grants rather than authority reserves. Executive Director Eileen Gibson flagged an unresolved crisis with the Pine Circle fire alarm panel, which triggers repeated false fire department responses due to a software defect; a state request for $220,000 in replacement funding was denied because, Gibson said, "they thought we had enough money to do it ourselves." The board also approved a $100-per-month AI translation service through PHAnet, accepted changes to the AHVP and MRVP voucher programs capping annual rent increases at 3 percent and eliminating state-paid security deposits for voucher holders who move, and tabled a vote on solar panels at Stetson Terrace after a five-page vendor response arrived the morning of the meeting with no time for review. Total waitlist applicants across authority properties stand at 75,249, a figure Gibson said likely includes duplicates from individuals who applied to multiple housing authorities statewide.