City of Kissimmee commissioners certainly are faced with a tough decision on which commercial airboat company – or companies – would be allowed to operate by contract from the city lakefront.

To their credit, the commissioners did make it over two hurdles: They decided to limit the number of trips leaving from Kissimmee per day to 10 and they decided to offer a three-year contract. The three-year contract is reasonable, given worries over how a commercial airboat operation would mesh with planned Lakefront Park improvements.

What is interesting is that residents living close to the lakefront who previously complained about airboat noise have said they’ve heard less noise recently, according to Commissioner Jerry Gemskie.

The commissioner did what any public official should have done in this situation: He visited lakefront neighborhoods and talked to the residents (while sitting in swings, even) who would be affected by his decision. What he found was that complaints about airboat noise, which pretty much has been a sticking point for residents, have dropped since the city started looking at the airboats-on-the-lakefront issue.

To the benefit of the five companies that submitted applications for a contract, all apparently are willing to work with the city on adhering to restrictions, including ways to reduce noise close to shore.

Would having two vendors operating out of the same location create unnecessary competition or finger-pointing should a noise or other issue arise? Maybe, but a three-year contract would allow the city to come back in a relatively short time to make a change, if necessary. As Commissioner Art Otero said, two companies should be capable of coming to some kind of agreement on operations. In addition, if there were no noise complaints from residents, then the number of trips allowed per day could be increased, allowing greater opportunities for the airboat companies.

In all this, commercial airboat operators have to remember that the city has the authority to regulate use of its lakefront, that any use of the lakefront by a private business would be a privilege granted by the city and that the lakefront is public property, owned by city taxpayers – some of them living in the lakefront area.