Rotting rats stink up city hall

They smell a rat at city hall in West Kelowna, where there's something rotten at the core.

Now, the odour of the decomposing rodents has forced out eight city workers.

"It's basically rotting flesh," said West Kelowna's facilities manager, Erin Goodwin, who describes the smell as something like a fish market or a lunch bag full of old food.

Complaints led crews to the discovery of rat remains below the floorboards of the old, grey, portable office used by the city's purchasing department.

"I'm sure the rats found a nice cosy place to sleep," said Goodwin. "Obviously, they were looking for a place to nest. Now we're trying to deal with the problem."

City workers have been relocated to the desks of vacationing staff in another building.

Work on an urgent fix has already begun.

This afternoon, council will be asked to approve emergency spending for renovations.

"We're going to do it the right way, from scratch," said Goodwin, who acknowledged crews didn't do enough when a similar smell first emerged three months ago.

This fall, citizens go to the polls to vote on funding to build a brand new city hall.

With files from Adrian Nieoczym and Daybreak South.