WILLIAMSBURG, MA (WGGB/WSHM) -- A complaint filed by a resident living near a church on High Street has put a bell that has rung every hour for more than 170 years at the center of a debate in Williamsburg.

The Williamsburg Select Board received the complaint last Tuesday from resident Mike Ambs, who has lived feet away from the church for about eight months. He said the overnight chimes have woken him and his four children multiple times, which he described as a nuisance.

Ambs said he does not want the chimes to stop entirely. He is asking for silence between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., which he said falls under a Massachusetts noise ordinance. He added he does not want to be seen as a bad guy and is open to a compromise.

“For people that love the bells, I like them too in the daytime. I think it’s great and up to most people go to bed by then,” Ambs explained. “I don’t see why you need them to ring at midnight, 1, 2, 3, so forth, so hopefully it can be muted.”

The issue is at the top of the agenda at Tuesday night’s selectboard meeting. The board holds authority over the bell despite it being rung at the church. One solution under consideration is a timed silencer retrofit, which could cost the town hundreds of dollars.

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