By Juliana A. Torres
Staff Writer

The Kissimmee City Commission workshop Tuesday held to hear from the airboat companies lobbying for a contract on the Kissimmee lakefront ended in a stalemate among the four commissioners at the meeting.

“This is probably one of the toughest decisions that this commission is going to have to make, because there’s so much at stake,” Commissioner Jerry Gemskie said.

The commissioners did decide that they would be limiting the number of trips leaving from Kissimmee per day to 10, but they were divided on whether to negotiate a contract with one airboat company or two. They also agreed that they could offer only a three-year contract, given the planned renovations to the Lakefront Park that will begin to take shape by that time.

“I’m uncertain in my own mind if a commercial airboat operation is going to be compatible long-term with that plan,” Mayor Jim Swan said.

Currently suspended Commissioner Carlos Irizarry was the most outspoken against commercial airboating. None of the remaining four commissioners Tuesday spoke adamantly against allowing airboat tours to launch from Kissimmee, though some had staunch parameters within which they would allow such an operation. Swan remained firm on a position he’s reiterated since the issue of airboats began.

“The maximum number of trips a day that I would support under any sort of circumstances is 10. That’s if we have two companies or one company doing it,” he said.

Commissioners said they were open to allowing the airboat tours since many local residents who complained about the airboat noise have said that it has decreased recently.

“I’ve spent many hours sitting in swings in different areas along the lake and listening. And in all honesty, the days I’ve been there, I haven’t heard enough noise for me to say ‘no’ about airboats,” Gemskie said.

For almost an hour after the airboat companies finished presenting their qualifications, commissioners tried to define parameters for the airboat tours, finding themselves stuck on the issue of allowing two competing companies or just one.

No decision was made as to how the pool of five candidates who have qualified for a lakefront contract might be narrowed down. Commissioner Cheryl Grieb began the discussions by asking for specific details from the different companies. For the most part, however, all companies expressed a willingness to work within any parameters the city requested.

Swan argued for allowing two airboat companies to operate from the lakefront, each with a maximum of five trips per day.

“If one crashes, you have still something there,” he said.

Gemskie said he felt two vendors operating out of the same location would create unnecessary competition at lakefront, along with finger-pointing should a noise or other issue arise.

“Nothing’s worse than having two vendors that are arguing on our lakefront,” Gemskie said.

Commissioner Art Otero said he agreed with the mayor.

“If they can’t get along, then we shut it down,” he said. “I think they’re capable to come up with an agreement and working together. I think two vendors is a smart thing to do.”

Grieb had a different reason why the city shouldn’t have two companies working at the lakefront.

“Business-wise, and looking at numbers, I don’t see that working. You’re going to put the same advertising expense out if you have five trips or 13 trips,” she said, explaining that the companies planned on spending, or already do spend, about 20 to 40 percent of their expenses on marketing.

Gemskie said he thought that a single airboat company should be limited to eight total trips.

City Manager Mark Durbin at one point interjected into the discussion, as it became apparent that the commissioners were divided.

“I have no dog in this fight, as you all well know. (But) if they are staying quiet, Jerry, like you said, what difference does it make how many trips they make in a day, if they’re not making any noise?” he asked the commission.

Gemskie explained that he felt the commission could always increase the trips if the airboat companies cooperated with the city. Otero suggested a six-month trial period ahead of the three-year contract, to evaluate that exactly.

As a way to move forward, Grieb sided with Otero and Swan on the 10 maximum trips per day, creating a consensus on that issue.

“But, I guess the big thing is, if we can’t choose one or two vendors, we don’t really go anywhere with this,” Grieb said.

Swan suggested the city at least ask if any of the five vendors would withdraw their proposal given the three-year contract limit, which is a change from the five years insinuated in the city’s request for qualifications.

“We need to give these folks the opportunity to decide whether or not they want to spend the kind of money they’re talking about for a three-year deal,” he said.

The issue will be brought up again during the city’s July 6 meeting. As the meeting concluded, Swan thanked the airboat vendors for participating in the “ugly process” of a request for qualification.

“It is not unusual for an RFQ (request for qualification), or an RFP (request for proposal). It’s just unusual for an airboat company,” he said, as the grumbling airboat operators got up to leave.

For the airboaters’ part, most said after the meeting it would be difficult to sustain a business with a maximum of five trips per day, if the commissioners decided to select two companies. They argued that they would need at least six or seven each, especially during the busy tourist season.

Two of the qualifying companies are operated by different members of the Sloan family, who said their combined enterprise could work under the two-company, 10-trip maximum system the commissioners suggested, but only because they already switch off days of operation.

Deputy City Manager Mike Steigerwald said Thursday that none of the airboat tours had backed out of the running so far.