EDCOUCH — Hurricane Dolly's torrential rains doused the Delta last year, overwhelming an inadequate drainage system and flooding low-lying for areas for weeks, said Mayor Pro Tem Eddy Gonzalez

Now, though, an engineer contracted by the city is developing a plan for additional drainage infrastructure that will connect into the county's main drainage system, Gonzalez said.

Cost, as always in the financially strapped Delta, is a major factor in the project's likelihood of success, and Edcouch is counting on using its share of $54 million in Hurricane Dolly relief money to make it a reality.

After a month of debate, the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council's board approved a plan to distribute the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's funds across a three-county area.

Edcouch and other small cities in Hidalgo County are slated to receive $480,000 each, which Gonzalez said should help substantially when the city starts its drainage work.

"Without this money, there's no way we could do it," Gonzalez said. "It's too costly."

After considerable debate among the interested parties about how best to divvy up the funds, the development council eventually supported a compromise plan to distribute half of Hidalgo County's allotment based on population and the other half through the county's normal distribution arrangement for HUD money.

An earlier draft of the plan would have distributed all the money based on population, Gonzalez said. But that approach could have devastated smaller communities in the eastern part of the county, many of which sustained significant storm damage.

Under a distribution based on population, Edcouch expected to receive $147,000.

Gonzalez favored a plan that would distribute all the funds based on amounts of damage.

But he - and the council board on which he sits- settled on the compromise plan that allocates money among the county's larger cities, small cities and rural areas.

The council's executive director, Ken Jones, said the cities and county can use the money to fix damage caused by Hurricane Dolly or address problems the storm highlighted.

About $1.2 million going to Hidalgo County is being set aside - in accordance with state requirements - for housing assistance for homeowners who weren't eligible for help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Jones said.

Individual homeowners can apply for housing repairs, rehabilitation and reconstruction assistance through forms that will be available through the Urban County department.

The development council expects to submit its distribution plan to the state today for approval. The individual cities and counties will have through May to notify the state on how they intend to use their shares of the money.

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Jared Janes covers Hidalgo County government, Edinburg and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4424.

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The Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council's board approved a plan to distribute $55 million in Hurricane Dolly relief funds. Hidalgo and Cameron counties each receive $24,750,000, with Willacy County given the remainder.

Twenty-two cities and the Hidalgo County government are set to split the county's share of the funding. Fourteen cities will receive $480,198. The local governments receiving the largest slices of the Hidalgo County funds are:

>> Hidalgo County - $3,959,071

>> McAllen - $3,950,000

>> Edinburg - $2,350,000

>> Mission - $2,350,000

>> Pharr - $2,350,000

>> San Juan - $531,516

>> Weslaco - $531,516