COEUR d'ALENE - A city councilman who opposed the city on a legal matter at the 11th hour won't be privy to the city's legal discussions on the case that's awaiting a judge's decision.

Steve Adams originally supported the city's effort to seek judicial confirmation on a roughly $33 million bond to upgrade the wastewater treatment facility, but then changed his mind and spoke out against it last week in court - which eventually earned him an s-bomb from the city attorney on Tuesday.

The City Council voted Tuesday to remove Adams from any discussions the city has with its legal team on the issue because the second-year councilman stated his opposition to the city's legal stance.

The vote passed 4 to 2 and sparked a testy debate where Adams threatened to file a complaint against the city and an ethics complaint against City Attorney Mike Gridley.

In turn, Gridley told Adams he was ignorant, with a swear word to match the sewer topic.

"I basically told him he was an ignorant (bleep)," Gridley said Wednesday. "It was out of sheer frustration with his disrupting the meeting and just not listening to legal counsel, and on top of that misrepresenting" our conversations in a public meeting.

On Wednesday, Adams backed off the complaint threats, saying he was going to review the matter with his own legal counsel before he decides what to do.

"I'm going to explore my options," he said, declining to name his legal representative since it hadn't been retained.

But on Wednesday he was still upset at the vote from the night before, calling it "mind boggling" and "corrupt."

"Why couldn't I make a motion to exclude them from whatever?" he said.

But the city's legal department says it's par for the course, even "logical" not to include a legal opponent when discussing the legal matter in private. Since Adams changed his stance, Gridley said, he put himself on the other side of the legal matter.

"My duty is to the city of Coeur d'Alene, the organization," Gridley said. "It's unethical for me to breach the confidential communications of a litigated matter with the opposing party."

Which would be Adams, since Adams spoke up against the city in court during the confirmation hearing, he said. Adams doesn't see it as litigation, rather only a petition, though he confirmed he would appeal the judge's decision if the judge ruled in favor of the city.

A judicial confirmation is when a judge allows a municipality to incur debt without voter approval to pay for public projects the court deems ordinary and necessary.

Coeur d'Alene, along with other North Idaho dischargers, is facing stricter discharge requirements for the Spokane River, as mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency. The requirements mean the city must pay around $33 million in upgrades to its wastewater treatment plant to meet them within five years. If the city doesn't, it would face a $37,500 per-day, per violation fine.

That set of circumstances led the City Council, including Adams, to favor in December going to a judge for the bond instead of putting the measure on a ballot.

Last week, Adams changed his mind and told 1st District Judge John Luster during a hearing that he opposed it because incurring debt without voter approval violated the Idaho Constitution.

Adams hadn't discussed it prior to the hearing, both Gridley and Adams said. Gridley called Adams after the hearing and told Adams he couldn't represent him and the city at the same time. Gridley told Adams he would be excluded in executive session should the matter come up. Adams told Gridley he understood, both Gridley and Adams said, and both said the conversation was pleasant.

But Adams said he had a change of heart after thinking about it more, and on Tuesday he told the rest of the council one council member couldn't be excluded from council topics, and would file complaints if he was.

"This council, us six, are the pack," he told the council.

But the council approved the motion to recuse a council member who sits on opposing legal ground with the city during those legal discussions.

When Mayor Sandi Bloem accepted the motion, Adams called her "out of line,' which led to a five minute recess, which led to Gridley talking to Adams during the intermission and their exchange.

Adams hadn't told anyone at the city he was going to make his comments during the meeting. When the meeting resumed, Adams repeated Gridley's comment into the record.

"Disrespectful, unprofessional and flat out rude," Adams said.

"And I stand by my words," Gridley replied, telling Adams at one point to "be his guest" and file the ethics complaint.

Bloem on Wednesday called Tuesday's debate "very heated."

"In my 12 years, it's the first time I used the gavel to hammer down a situation," she said, adding what language people use in private isn't up for her to decide.

"What someone does in their private discussion is their business," she said.

Meanwhile, Judge Luster has the confirmation under advisement and should issue a ruling in less than 30 days.

The multi-million dollar upgrades to the wastewater plant would be paid back with capitalization and user fees, which would be increased over the next five years. Monthly residential bills would step up from $24.43 to $36.65 in 2017. Commercial would go from $7.15 to $10.95.

The city of Post Falls faces the same discharge requirements as Coeur d'Alene. It plans to seek a judicial confirmation for its upgrades. Rates there are proposed to increase from $33.64 to $49.20 over five years.

Cursing isn't unheard of at city meetings. Councilman Ron Edinger, who opposed the McEuen Field project, uttered a swear or two during one park planning meeting.

In 2007, Coeur d'Alene secured a $15 million judicial order to pay for wastewater plant upgrades.