Community members are moving forward with plans to begin improving conditions at Sunset Memorial Park in Pearl City. They hope the first step in addressing the concerns and frustrations raised by several family members is to form a nonprofit board to oversee the cemetery’s maintenance and operations.

The 4-acre site on Fourth Street is currently managed by Lago Dozinn and registered to the Hawaiian Cemetery Association Ltd., according to state records. The state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs said officials are working with Dozinn, who is listed as the cemetery’s director and president, to re-establish the license, which expired in 1995. Numerous complaints over several years at the cemetery include overgrown grass and weeds, sinking graves and stolen urns.

The state Department of Accounting and General Services said that because the cemetery is on private property, the department has no plans to take over the site. According to city records, the cemetery also owes about $14,720 in property taxes.

The concerns prompted the Pearl City Neighborhood Board to hold a meeting earlier this month to facilitate a discussion among Dozinn and the community. At the meeting, with more than 100 in attendance, including state Sen. Clarence Nishihara (D, Waipahu-Pearl City) and City Councilman Brandon Elefante, who represents Waipahu, Pearl City and Aiea, a suggestion to form a coalition called Friends for Sunset Memorial Park was touted as a way to transform and improve the cemetery.

“It’s my belief that we can and will put something together that will actually put this cemetery into an area where families can go and see their loved ones,” said Darrell Salvador, whose family members are buried at the cemetery and who serves as funeral director of nearby Leeward Funeral Home, which is operated independently from Sunset. “And when they come to visit, they can go home with the feeling that their family is taken care of.”

Dozinn, who is in his late 60s, said he got involved in the cemetery with a friend whom he has not talked to in seven years and “is no longer with us.” He added that there are no paid workers, but nearby church members and others volunteer to help him maintain the property.

“I tried my best,” said Dozinn, who added that he has a neck injury that hampers his ability to maintain and manage the site. “But that’s no excuse because I volunteered.”

He said there is a trust fund for the cemetery with about $197,000, and “some of that is available for us to use.”

But some community members aired their frustrations with the lack of maintenance at the site. Several of them said they cannot find their family headstones.

“After seeing the condition of Sunset, my siblings and I decided that we were going to remove my mom from there,” Petra Abad Esber said at the meeting, adding that she “could barely” find her mother’s plot. “We want action.”

Other community members said they take on the responsibility to maintain their family members’ plots and that everyone needs to work together to find solutions.

“We need to help you,” said Joanne Chun to Do-zinn. “Many of our family is buried there. We have to take care of one issue at a time. He’s only one person.”

Nanette Napoleon, founder and director of the Hawaii Cemetery Research Project, who has conducted research on Sunset, said there are “stories of hope out there,” suggesting that forming a board of directors would be a good start.

“It will take a tremendous amount of commitment on your part to make it last over time,” said Napoleon, who provided a history of the cemetery at the meeting. “You have to be realistic of what you can and cannot accomplish.”

Pearl City Neighborhood Board Chairman Larry Veray said the meeting achieved “our goal of bringing people together.” He said a meeting for those interested in serving on the board of directors to oversee and manage the cemetery is scheduled for noon Nov. 21 at Waiau District Park. He added that he hopes once a board is established, board members will update the neighborhood board on their progress quarterly or semiannually.

“It was our concern for the welfare of all the families that had no information,” Veray said. “They had no collaboration, no communication. It was just a disaster. This will be the way ahead.”