RALEIGH - Stung by the backlash that followed their ban on new garbage disposals, City Council members said Tuesday that critics of the policy are either misinformed or want to hang onto creature comforts while their fellow Americans shoulder the burden of war.

"Where's the shared sense of sacrifice?" asked council member Rodger Koopman, an Air Force veteran, who said giving up garbage disposals is minor compared with the hardships of Iraq. "If you do support the troops, be willing to suck it up just a little bit."

But the lone opponent of the ban said his colleagues are turning Raleigh into a nanny state.

"Raleigh is becoming the city of 'you can't do this,' " council member Philip Isley said.

Tuesday's debate, involving patriotism, gag props and, ultimately, a committee, was the latest chapter in the council's own soap opera: "How the Disposal Churns." Passed with little discussion two weeks ago, the ban on in-sink garbage grinders exasperated some city residents. It became the latest drag on the City Council's momentum.

With the election of two supporters of Mayor Charles Meeker last October, the new council was expected to be a cohesive bunch. But in recent months the council has drawn the ire of builders, real estate agents and some homeowners for proposed restrictions on tearing down homes in the city's older inside-the-Beltline neighborhoods. Members have been criticized for not moving swiftly enough to restrict water use in the face of a withering drought. They have been attacked for placing most of the conservation burden on residents and a narrow slice of businesses that rely on city water, such as landscapers and companies that pressure-wash houses and decks.

Council member James West said Tuesday that there is a lesson to be learned from the disposal brouhaha. "This will help us be more predictable," he said.

For now, new disposals remain verboten.

While acknowledging that the issue should be studied further, most council members said there is no harm in the ban remaining in place in the meantime.

Council member Thomas Crowder even went so far as to present Isley, the only council member to call for a repeal, with a compost jar for storing his eggshells and other kitchen scraps. Crowder said the point of prohibiting the popular in-sink garbage grinders is to encourage people to stop putting food and other items down the drain, and he offered up his own family's system as an alternative.

Isley appeared unamused and argued that the garbage disposal ban is representative of this council's willingness to intrude into residents' lives. West echoed similar concerns, noting that the city "seems to be taking a whole lot of things away from people."

$25,000 fine? Uh, no

Meeker blamed the media for spreading what he said was misinformation about the city's ordinance.

Raleigh's news release announcing the ban stated that "violators will be issued a notice of violation and a civil penalty assessment of up to $25,000 per day."

But Meeker said that is not true; the ordinance itself does not mention the heavy fine. City Manager Russell Allen said Tuesday that violators would likely receive just a citation.

The ban, which went into effect Monday, applies only to new disposals; residents who already have a disposal are prohibited from replacing their grinder once it stops working.

In voting 7-1 to keep the ban in place, the council also agreed to study the issue further in its Budget and Economic Development Committee.

Unlike two weeks ago, when the council passed the ban with little discussion, council members on Tuesday heard from both an opponent and a supporter of the ordinance.

Jerry Ryder, president of InSinkErator, a leading disposal manufacturer, told council members that research shows that disposals are not a major cause of sewer overflows, nor do they use a lot of water. He said leaving food scraps in the trash attracts rodents and other pests and also creates odors.

Dean Naujoks, an environmental activist who serves as the Upper Neuse riverkeeper, commended the council on putting in place the ban.

"This was the right thing to do," Naujoks said. "I know it was not easy."

About the only thing that the entire council agreed upon was that the issue could have been handled better.

"The citizen education piece was missing," council member Nancy McFarlane noted.