Amid infighting over the early release of information about a court settlement that requires $300 million in sewer repairs, the City Council yesterday took a step toward ensuring the secrecy of certain talks and actions behind closed doors.

But the council backed away from a controversial plan to penalize members who violate the proposed restrictions.

A resolution tentatively approved yesterday would, for the first time, bar council members from publicly disclosing information from private "executive session" committee meetings. The measure awaits final approval next month.

Hawai'i's "Sunshine Law" that requires open public meetings allows secret committee sessions to discuss and vote on limited types of issues, such as lawsuit settlements and investigations of criminal misconduct. The council held a secret session yesterday to discuss four court cases.

But the council lacks any specific rule or policy to preclude its members from revealing information from such meetings; details have sometimes leaked out or been released on an ad hoc basis that evolved along with council personalities and political agendas.

The current controversy erupted in April after a committee voted in executive session to allow a federal court agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over the sewer repairs.

Councilman Charles Djou outlined the deal in an on-the-record interview in response to an Advertiser reporter's inquiry. The talk provided much of the basis for a front-page article that appeared the next day.

Djou later said he had no regrets about making the disclosure, because the deal involved so much public money and was being worked out between the city and EPA before a lawsuit was filed.

Several council members, including chairwoman Barbara Marshall, argued yesterday that one member should not be allowed to decide whether to release information that had been provided confidentially to a group of members.

Councilman Donovan Dela Cruz, who joined Djou in voting against the resolution, said barring members from releasing information could prompt some to surreptitiously leak it instead.

Councilman Rod Tam, who has asked the city's Ethics Commission to determine whether Djou violated the City Charter, said part of the problem is that the news media try to "create controversy to make money."

But Djou noted that Ethics Commission reviews are conducted confidentially, and that Tam not only announced his inquiry yesterday in a press release, but also cited in it a city attorney's analysis that remains confidential.

Tam said he did so in response to unflattering media reports about his ethics inquiry, and had not revealed any details about the lawyer's analysis.