With public funding scarce, Jupiter condo owners may pay for seawall

The dunes protecting Jupiter’s Ocean Trail Condominiums from flooding are so badly eroded that worried residents are considering pulling together $3 million to build a seawall themselves. The 600-unit complex, where the average home sells for around $350,000, sits on a 1.2-mile stretch of beach that is supposed to be renourished every eight years for $9 million. But available funding for beach renourishment projects from local and state governments has shrunk in recent years, and it now appears unlikely that Congress would approve earmarking more dollars for the beach, even though the federal government has footed 65 percent of the bill for similar projects in the past. As a result, residents are toying with the idea of putting in $5,000 each for a cheaper, faster seawall project. They may also ask the Jupiter Town Council to pitch in. [Palm Beach Post]