The City Council Tuesday approved the formation of a seven member committee to consider possible improvements to the city-owned Pioneer Cemetery on Sunol Boulevard.

Called the Pioneer Cemetery Master Plan Oversight Committee, the group is expected to take 12 months to complete its research on the old cemetery, which the city bought from the International Order of Odd Fellows for $1. The cemetery has no in-ground irrigation system and the intent at the time of acquisition was to leave it as a historic site with little attention to be paid to improvements.

However, a citizens' group has urged the city to reconsider its "hands-off" policy and improve the grounds along the lines of other Pleasanton-owned parks.

Appointed to the new committee were members of the city's Parks and Recreation and Civic Arts commissions, representatives of a veterans organization and the citizens' group, and a representative from the Catholic Funeral and Cemetery Services, which handles cemetery affairs, and one alternate.

They are Brad Hottle, Deborah Wahl, Heidi Massie, Stephanie Wedge, Doug Miller, Frank Capilla, Jayne Archer and Carolanne Montgomery.