By Polly Mosendz and Eric Roston — If you happened to be in Montauk, N.Y., when the trucks started rolling in this summer, you’d get a sense of how much sand $171,000 buys.

By Alex Kuffner — In a bid to reduce the potential damage from flooding caused by storm surges, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has put forward a $58.6-million plan that would largely be funded through taxpayer money to lift up 341 private structures on the Washington County coast.