Jan. 15--A plan aimed at solving some city-county squabbles might not be the intended quick fix for the Radisson Plaza Hotel -- even if reluctant county leaders agree to it.

Giving $1.9 million from the former aviation fund to ease the hotel's financial woes will help but likely would not allow the city to avoid refinancing the hotel bonds.

The city-financed hotel needs a more long-term fix, some say.

"The refinancing is a complicated process, which will take weeks to sort out," said Walt Standish, chairman of the Hotel Board Corp., which oversees the Radisson's finances for the city.

"These airport funds give us a tremendous amount of flexibility to meet the requirements of the various refinancing scenarios being considered." But some Horry County Council members aren't interested in helping the city cover its Radisson money problems when the county has its own money troubles with road-building debt.

"I think the city should be responsible with its bill for the hotel," Horry County Council Chairwoman Liz Gilland said.

"Both of us are in tough positions right now." The money would come from what was known as the aviation fund in a deal backed by the Myrtle Beach City Council that calls for the money to be filtered to other needs. The fund is made up of lease payments from two campgrounds and was originally intended for aviation-related expenses.

Under the plan, about $4 million of it would go to the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce to offer incentives for new groups to fly to the beach -- a perk industry leaders praise as a way to take the area's group business to another level.

"Without a doubt, it would make a destination more competitive," said Kristen Clemens, spokeswoman of the International Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus.

The Radisson is a city- approved project that the county shouldn't get involved in, said County Councilman and hotelier Harold Worley.

"They need to step up to the plate and take responsibility for it," he said. "I'm not interested in the county writing a check to subsidize the failing Radisson Plaza Hotel.

They are just asking too much." The hotel could help drive traffic at the airport by luring fly-in groups to the area, supporters say. That additional business would bring dollars to restaurants, hotels and stores throughout the county, they say.

"Quite frankly, it is going to benefit everybody," City Councilwoman Judy Rodman said.

"I don't see that there is any conflict at all [using the money for the hotel]." The Radisson is expected to end its first budget year in April several million dollars off original projections.

"It's there. It's not going away. We need to do every thing we can to make it viable," County Councilman Mark Lazarus said.

The other part of the proposed deal affecting tourism could potentially create one of the biggest incentive programs Grand Strand leaders have launched targeting group business.

The chamber would have $4 million to use as reimbursements for flights to groups that bring their meetings to the area. The groups would get 10 percent for every 100 rooms they fill.

"Maybe this is enough incentive to convince those groups that have teetered on the edge to come here," said Shep Guyton, the chamber's chairman.

But the effort must be monitored and use specific criteria in doling out those dollars, area sales directors said. The push would start at a time when the Grand Strand has even more meeting-focused properties to fill with the Radisson and the new Marriott-Grande Dunes, said Craig Smith, Radisson's sales director.

The inconvenience of flying to Myrtle Beach is a turnoff for some groups, so the incentive could work, said Sabena Robinson, sales director at Kingston Plantation.

"That's probably our biggest challenge," she said of limited direct flights.

David Klepper contributed to this report.

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