The business of running a small city or village usually includes a variety of tasks like handling business or building permits and the occasional requests from the public.

But it's doubtful the staff at Anmore Village Hall thought dealing with a rodent infestation would be on the to-do list.

Last week, Anmore council decided to move the municipality's operations out from the village hall to a temporary trailer because of an ongoing rodent infestation.

Mayor Heather Anderson said the pest problems have been around for years, but got worse this fall after the heat in the nearly 100-year-old building was turned on.

At one point, staff caught a half dozen squirrels and mice in the ceiling.

She said the village hired an extermination service, but that didn't work.

"The smell got to be so bad we felt it wasn't appropriate for our staff to be working in that environment," Anderson told The NOW.

"It's just a bigger problem than what we realized."

So for now, the village will operate out of a trailer right beside the building.

The plan is to get a larger trailer in the new year that can house the operations for up to two years.

The cost of the trailer, including the move, will set the village back $117,000 over the two-year period. But that would be small change compared to building a new village hall.

Anderson said the price tag on a new hall could be in the $1.5-million to $2-million range.

She said the village had no short term plans to replace or renovate the aging hall until this incident.

But it's now a top priority for the municipality.

"We need to figure out what we're going to do and act on it fairly quickly," she said.

Council asked staff to look into the village's options, including potential government grants that could help pay for a portion of a new or renovated hall.

A report is expected to be in front of council in January.

jdeutsch@thenownews.com