The winter storm that hit the area in the early morning hours Monday impacted the 9 a.m. scheduled Kankakee County Board meeting.

A foot of snow was reported in Momence, while the city of Kankakee received about 4 to 5 inches by 6 a.m., according to published reports. Several board members couldn’t make it into the meeting, as only 13 of the 28 members were in attendance. A quorum of 15 is needed (half plus one), so the meeting was rescheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday.

“It was pretty much the snow,” County Board Chairman Matt Alexander-Hildebrand said. “I received multiple pictures [of snowfall] from members.”

Vice Chairman Craig Long added that board member Roger Hess, who represents the Momence area, was still digging out his driveway at the time the meeting started.

“It looks like the east side of the county got hit pretty hard,” Long said.

Alexander-Hildebrand added every school was closed, but he wasn’t going to shut down because the courthouse wasn’t closed. He added the decision to shut down county government is done in conjunction with Kankakee County Sheriff Mike Downey, Chief Judge Tom Cunnington and the board chairman.

“There’s no ‘I’ in that decision,” he said. “That’s kind of how it works, and we have to pass the [fiscal year] budget.”

The combined annual budget and appropriation ordinance for Kankakee County for the 2025-26 is on the agenda.

“I wasn’t not going to have a meeting,” Alexander-Hildebrand said.

In addition to the 13 board members who were able to make it in, there were six on Zoom hook-up. Those appearing on Zoom aren’t counted for the quorum, but they can be approved to vote on measures if there’s a quorum to pass that measure.

“We had to have a quorum in the room to allow them to vote,” Long said.

The board usually meets on the second Tuesday of the month, but that fell on Veterans Day, so, in advance, the meeting was rescheduled for Monday.