WALHALLA, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - Tensions boiled over during a city council meeting in Walhalla on Thursday night as the town faces water woes.
Water issues weren’t listed on the agenda for the special-called meeting, but Councilman Grant Keehn asked to amend it to include the employment status of Walhalla Utilities Director Laramie Hinkle.
The rest of the council disagreed with Keehn and decided to go into executive session, but not before the public voiced their opinions.
“We’d like to hear what’s going on,” one person shouted. “You want to make decisions behind closed doors.”
Community members wanted answers about issues with discolored water and broken pumps.
Amid the problems, Hinkle says his city phone is disconnected, and when he went to the plant Thursday morning, the lock codes were changed.
“It looks a whole lot like they don’t want me around,” Hinkle said. “I don’t understand this. If you’re going to fire somebody, you just man up, walk up, fire somebody instead of standing around trying to act like you’re not.”
Community members at the meeting were in support of Hinkle, lining up to shake his hand.
“They won’t give these people clean drinking water,” Hinkle said. “I’m trying to give it to them and they’re just not doing what they’re supposed to do. It’s ridiculous.”
Walhalla Mayor Tim Hall said he’s not able to discuss employee matters but we asked him what he could say about the situation.
“I understand people’s concerns and I hear them about the water system,” Hall said. “We care. We’re working toward it.”
People waited outside the meeting for at least 45 minutes, but when the council returned from executive session, they did not discuss Hinkle or the utilities department further.
FOX Carolina has been following Walhalla’s water crisis for months.
City council decided to take away half a million dollars from utilities in the next budget, sparking controversy.
Hinkle told FOX Carolina that the city began pumping water from Seneca last week after two of city’s three pumps went down.
According to the city, both pumps had an estimated service life of 20 to 25 years, but failed after only six years.
Some residents also recently reported experiencing brown tap water, which the city attributed to increased levels of manganese.
“It’s 2025 in the United States and we’ve got people living off mud and dirt water,” one resident said after Thursday night’s meeting.
Earlier this week, Keehn shared a copy of a letter sent by councilman Kenny Johns, the chair of the public utilities committee, to Hinkle.
The letter raises concerns about recent issues with the city’s water system and claims of “unprofessional language” used in public statements.
Johns requests answers about the repair status of water pumps in Walhalla, contingency plans for the pumps, premature equipment failures, customer billing errors, water discoloration and inoperable water meters.
Stay with FOX Carolina for updates on this developing story.
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