PORT COQUITLAM (NEWS1130) – A church in Port Coquitlam has done away with the hourly chiming of its bells.

That’s because people living near Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic church were so annoyed they went to city hall.

Back in June, neighbours were saying the bells were registering as high as 80 decibels.

Paul Dufault, who sits on the church’s building committee, says they’ve had to be creative in somewhat sound-proofing the bells.

“We’ve put some sound insulation around the belfry and bubble wrapping around one of the bells. It is pretty hard to reduce the noise coming from a real bell. We just have to watch the noise level and monitor it,” he notes, adding that they’ve been able to reduce the noise level to about 70 decibels.

And the church has done away with ringing the bells every hour on weekdays.  They now chime only twice a day, except on Sunday when they’re rung to signal Mass times.

“Some neighbours have said that it is much better. It’s nice to have the sound of bells. It brings more to the community versus the sound of trains all the time,” says Dufault.