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Volunteers ask committee to green up La Porte Animal Shelter to boost adoptions
Summary
Friends of the La Porte Animal Shelter asked the Keep La Porte Beautiful committee to authorize a beautification project and to clarify whether volunteers may plant and maintain beds on city property; staff said the shelter's irrigation appears installed but not used and agreed to investigate turning water on and coordinating supervision.
Renee Bartlett, who identified herself as representing Friends of the La Porte Animal Shelter, asked the committee to put the shelter on the list for a volunteer-led beautification project and said the group is now a certified 501(c)(3).
"I'm Renee Bartlett, and this is Pat Saint Thomas," Bartlett said in her presentation, noting the group has a five-member board and about 20 members working to raise funds and recruit volunteers. She described the shelter's front planting strip as largely dead and said an irrigation system appears to have been installed but never activated.
Committee members and staff discussed legal and maintenance limits for volunteer work on city property. A staff member said they would look into whether irrigation can be turned on and what approvals would be required before volunteers can dig and plant. A committee member advised that any volunteer planting must include a clear supervision plan so plantings will be maintained: "You have to have somebody who knows what they're doing to supervise it," Bartlett said.
The committee asked staff to coordinate with the shelter group and to provide guidance on permissible activities, maintenance expectations and next steps for scheduling a project, including possible inclusion in the horticare contract or other city-maintained beds. The committee also requested contact information and the group's website (friendsoflaporte.org) to follow up.
The committee did not take a formal vote on a specific project during the meeting; staff committed to follow up and report back to the committee with clarity on irrigation and permission to proceed.
