Myrtle Beach City Council members on Tuesday should put aside any remaining temptation to defer the fiscal pain inflicted by the underperformance of the city-owned Radisson Plaza Hotel and settle its fiscal future now. That means adopting the $46.7 million bond refinancing package developed behind closed doors by city staff members and the panel that runs the hotel, the Hotel Corp. Board. It means saying no to the five-year bank note that Mayor Mark McBride proposed as an alternative to a new bond issue.

McBride was right to insist earlier this month that the council consider an alternative to bond proposal, which would pay off the existing hotel bonds and issue new bonds secured with city hospitality fee revenue. The bank note solution, as the mayor noted, would be easier for city residents to understand and less painful up front.

After paying a small fee, the city would receive enough money to keep the hotel operational against the day that hotel profits render city assistance unnecessary. After five years, the city would repay the note in full.

The problem with this strategy is unpredictability: We all hope the hotel, which had a profitable February, will run in the black from here on out, but that may not happen. The more of the bank note the city used, the more it would owe when payment times comes. And if the city then had to resort to bonds to take care of remaining debt, interest rates could be much higher than they are now.

We have criticized city staff and the Hotel Corp. Board for working on the bond refinance package in secret, in apparent violation of S.C. open meetings law. But the work product itself appears, from our layperson's perspective, to be first rate.

Unlike most of the original hotel bonds, this set of bonds would be properly secured. And this time around, the city has obtained a commitment from the Radisson's corporate parent to help defray the cost of any earnings shortfalls that may occur in the future.

Despite the pain that has resulted from a poor first-year performance, the Radisson Plaza Hotel retains its potential as a first-class convention hotel. We continue to believe that the city was right to build it. If council, as it should, puts the hotel on realistic financial footing Tuesday, residents in time should see it that way, too.