Mr Adie demanded an apology, and Cr Fliss Butcher, who made the remark, provided one.
But Cr Butcher said her comment stemmed from anger she felt about the way the council's public forum system was being manipulated by a small group of people.
Cr Butcher made the remark during a council meeting, when she was demanding a tougher line by council committee chairmen on speakers at public forums.
She said chairmen needed to use their discretion when deciding whether or not to let people speak.
Just because someone was elderly and had a hearing aid did not mean they should be allowed to speak if they did not stick to the rules.
Mr Adie - who wears a hearing aid - fired out a press release after the meeting, and said he had written to Mayor Peter Chin asking for an apology.
He called on Cr Butcher to apologise publicly to people who had a disability.
"People don't choose to wear hearing aids or confine themselves to wheelchairs and the like - it is forced on them.
"She highly offended me by her remarks, which were directed at me and witnessed."
Cr Butcher said yesterday she was sick of people who turned up at forums, "people who say you're all useless" rather than attending with good arguments and information.
Mr Adie said last night he had accepted the apology given by telephone yesterday
