Whitman Building Committee Sends Three Upgrade Requests to Capital Committee

WHITMAN -- March 2, 2026, Whitman's Public Works Building Committee unanimously forwarded three proposed facility upgrades, security sensors, a second boiler, and a fuel depot evaluation, to the Capital Improvement Committee, rejecting each as out-of-scope change orders on the nearly finished DPW building project. The decisions came after facilities director Todd Decudo submitted a written recommendation for a dual-boiler system at an estimated $150,000, citing redundancy failures at the police station, library, and senior center, and security official Josh McNeil proposed $36,731.79 in motion sensors and card readers. Neither attended the meeting. A fuel depot mechanism froze during last week's blizzard, forcing public safety departments to seek fuel from a nearby retailer, but committee members characterized the event as weather-related rather than a systemic failure. The committee voted to retain $50,000 of the project's remaining $673,324 balance for outstanding invoices, leaving the rest for redistribution at town meeting, and separately approved roughly $4,200 to replace worn entrance carpet with vinyl flooring, calling the original carpet installation a design error.