At its Jan. 13 meeting the Amador County Board of Supervisors handled several routine and ceremonial items.

The board unanimously adopted a resolution honoring Jim Cardoza for 26 years of service with the Amador County Sheriff's Office; Cardoza expressed thanks and described his career as rewarding.

The board also adopted a resolution recognizing Kim Lagoo and the Rodman family of Roaring Camp and Pine Acres Resort as businessperson/family of the year for 2025. Assembly staff in attendance read remarks from Assemblymember Heather Hadwick’s office praising Roaring Camp’s contributions to local tourism.

On consent‑pulled items the board approved acceptance of approximately $76,000 in grant funding from the ASPCA to support animal control wildfire response equipment (trailers, generators, laptops) and to augment local sheltering capacity. Evan Jacobs, animal control director, said the grant would support emergency sheltering and equipment needs and would supplement existing emergency teams.

The board discussed scholarship allocations and voted to amend criteria: combining Northstar and Independence into a single alternative‑education scholarship pool, including homeschoolers in that category, and amending scoring to better accommodate vocational applicants. Supervisors discussed residency verification to ensure recipients are county residents.

During the Board of Equalization session the assistant assessor explained a stipulation (25‑05) agreeing to a private appraisal due to inability to access a gated, remote property; the board moved and approved the stipulation. The board also continued a public hearing on a lot merger in the Pioneer area to Jan. 27 at 10:30 a.m. to allow time for mailed notices to reach adjoining owners.

Next steps: Animal Control will accept the ASPCA funds and integrate equipment into emergency planning; scholarship policy changes will be implemented through county clerk procedures; the lot merger hearing will resume Jan. 27.