Stockbridge Select Board Votes to Keep Chime Tower at 30 Minutes Daily Despite Neighbor Complaints

LENOX — June 4, 2026 — Stockbridge Select Board votes 2-1 to keep Children's Chime Tower at its current 30-minutes-daily schedule despite complaints from nearby residents. A pastor who lives roughly 250 feet from the tower told the board that for "3,180 minutes" across the playing season, neighbors must shut windows and cannot converse indoors during the 5:30-to-6 p.m. concerts, and that at least one prior church leader's spouse relocated out of state partly in response to the noise; Don Rogers, chair of the church trustees, confirmed the board had to halt a meeting the prior evening when a door was opened during playing. The board debated shifting the start time by 30 minutes and cutting duration from 30 to 20 minutes, but member Georgia held firm, moving to keep the schedule at seven days a week, 5:30 to 6 p.m.; member Jamie dissented. In other action, the board authorized the town administrator to sign letters of intent for a three-site solar project seeking $1 million in state Climate Leader grant funding, projected to save the town approximately $130,000 annually in electricity costs, and announced three finalists — Lynn Baumgarten, Shauna Rope, and Morris Lesora — for the open treasury tax collector position, with interviews set for June 11.