City council Thursday night said it would be moving forward with the process to fund the construction of a new parking garage.

Council informed a representative from PNC Bank to begin preparing to sell about $7 million in bonds to build the garage that is expected to join a proposed downtown hotel as part of the Centre City project.

The bonds are expected to be sold Sept. 10, assuming the developer of the hotel closes on its own loans and agreements by Sept. 9.

“The city has withheld financing until there is certainty the hotel is a go,” said city solicitor Jim Coulter.

The city is waiting for developer J.S. Capitol to finalize its loans and other agreements for the proposed hotel before moving forward with its proposed $5 million parking garage.

The city has until Sept. 14 to sell its bonds before they expire.

The city has not committed to spending any of the money at this point, but did tell PNC Bank to do everything it can to prepare for an eventual sale.

Once the bonds are sold, the city is locked into the debt.

“It’s irreversible at that point,” Coulter said.

City officials held a conference call with the bank Wednesday to get a better understanding of the time frame of moving forward.

Mayor Tom Donaldson said the conference call was positive and that things were coming together.

Council likely will borrow the maximum $7 million bond issue it previously approved to pay for the garage, as well as refinance the existing parking authority’s debt and pay for the West New Castle Street bridge replacement project.

Should the developer of the hotel not close on its loans and other agreements before the Sept. 14 deadline, the city will take a smaller $3 million bond issue to pay for the parking authority’s debt, the bridge project and other work.

The city redevelopment authority, which will own 25 percent of the hotel, said last week it expects the developer will close on those loans by Sept. 9, giving the city time to award contracts for its proposed garage and sell bonds to fund the work.

The city also must award the contracts for the garage work. Thomas Construction of Grove City is the expected general contractor for the project.