NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, Ont. — Having overcome a challenge from neighboring residents,

the operators of Whirlpool Jet Boat Tours are gearing up for a full season of rides this

spring and summer through the white-water rapids of the lower Niagara River.

The Ontario Court of Appeal, the second-highest court in Canada, ruled recently in Toronto

that Whirlpool jet boats can continue to operate from their dock in Niagara-on-the-Lake, just

as they have every year since the company began its business here in 1992.

Neighbors had challenged the operation in a zoning dispute, but the three-judge court ruled

unanimously in favor of the tour boat company, which plans to begin this year's tours here

next month.

John Kinney, of Lewiston, president and chief operating officer of Whirlpool Jet Boat

Tours, refused to call the ruling a victory.

"When you get dragged through something like this and are faced with all the legal fees, it

brings you right back to where you started. Everybody lost here," he said.

The Jet Boat Tours originated at Niagara-on-the-Lake, and the trips based in the community

still make up about two-thirds of the company's business, Kinney said. If his company had lost

in court, it would have had to try to shift all of its business to its other locations in

Queenston, Ont., and Lewiston.

"When you are dealing with tour operators who make their plans months in advance, it would

have been a major challenge for us to ask them to re-route their itineraries to Queenston or

Lewiston," Kinney said Monday in a telephone interview.

The company opened its Lewiston dock in 1997, "and we are continuing to prosper there,

especially with our business from overseas. We are getting tons of business from India and

Korea," he said.

The Queenston operation opened in 1998, and the Niagara Escarpment Commission has approved

the renovation of the dock there this year.

"Our advance bookings look very good, and with all three locations in operation we are

cautiously optimistic about this year's business. The outlook for 2010 is pretty strong," the

owner said.

The ice boom is to be removed soon from the upper Niagara River, and the volume of water

flowing over Niagara Falls is to be increased to its summer levels on April 1, giving the

white-water boat ride plenty of time to begin its Niagara-on-the-Lake service on April 24,

Kinney said.

Public rides will begin May 22 at Queenston and sometime in May at Lewiston, although tour

groups may be accommodated earlier at those locations. The white-water portion of the one-hour

trips are identical from each of the three locations.

The company's 125 seasonal employees operate eight boats, each with a capacity of 50

passengers, seven days a week during the season. The most exciting part of the trip is in

negotiating the huge waves in the rapids in the river gorge.

Kinney said his company has taken 1.5 million people through the rapids.