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Vero Beach is not only the largest municipality in the county; it is also the most diverse. Including both mainland and barrier island areas, Vero Beach has significant residential and non-residential areas. While almost built -out, the City has a significant amount of redevelopment activity. Various state roads (SR 60, SR AIA, US 1), non -state arterials, a limited public transportation system, a public use airport, and the railroad constitute the major components of the transportation system within the City. Both Sebastian and Fellsmere are completely mainland communities. Fronting on the Indian River Lagoon, Sebastian is the larger of the two, and the fastest growing of the county's municipalities. With more than 10,000 vacant platted lots, Sebastian is expected to continue to grow at a rapid rate. Sebastian has a public use airport and a portion of US 1 within its boundaries. Fellsmere is the only municipality located west of I-95, and the only municipality without any state roadways within its boundaries. 1993 Apportionment Plan Alternatives Section 339.175, Florida Statutes identifies MPO apportionment requirements. Of these requirements, the three most important are: the size requirement; the proportionality requirement; and the requirement that (with minor exceptions) only elected officials of general purpose local governments may serve on the MPO Policy Board. When the MPO was formed in 1993, an apportionment plan was developed for the MPO Policy Board in accordance with Section 339.175, F.S. The development of the apportionment plan involved an alternatives analysis regarding the number and geographic distribution of the MPO Board members. In order to provide for a manageable governing body in relation to the relatively small population included within the MPO, alternatives were considered which limited the size of the MPO Policy Board to 7, 8, or 9 members. In assessing the board membership alternatives, a major consideration was the proportionality requirement. From a proportionality perspective, the most equitable alterative in terms of population and geographic representation was found to be the nine member option. The nine member option, which was subsequently adopted, consisted of an MPO Policy Board with four County Commissioners, two Vero Beach City Councilmen, one Sebastian City Councilman, one Fellsmere City Councilman, and one Indian River Shores Town Councilman. Besides those voting members, two nonvoting members were appointed to the MPO Board. These were representatives of the Town of Orchid and the Indian River County School District (IRCSD). With this option, the unincorporated County representation (based upon the four County Commission representatives) was close to the unincorporated proportion of the total County population. Another advantage of this alternative was that the smaller municipalities, with the exception of the Town of Orchid, had direct representation on the MPO Board. Each of the other options considered resulted in inadequate representation on the MPO Board for the smaller municipalities. While the seven member option would have included the three smallest municipalities (Town of Indian River Shores, City of Fellsmere, and Town of Orchid) with unincorporated residents and provide them representation through County Commission representatives, eight and nine member alternatives would have assigned a shared representative for the three smallest municipalities. Because of the dissimilarities among these municipalities, it was determined that a shared representative approach would not be feasible. After careful consideration, it was determined that all municipalities except Orchid should have voting representation on the MPO Board. When the initial MPO apportionment plan was developed in 1993, an important consideration was whether the IRCSD could be represented as a voting member of the MPO Policy Board. Although October 19, 1999 51 BOOK J. FSUE 87