David Lee reports for the Columbia Paper that a group of residents have filed a lawsuit against the village of Philmont for their plan to rent out an unused former mill to a local group for theatre productions. The group of residents call themselves the High Falls Property Owners Association, and own property next to the building at 10 Canal Street. They say zoning does not allow theatre in the building, and the town only considered one other proposal for the space. The group Free Columbia would create the Free Columbia Cultural Center in the building for the High Falls Theater and High Falls Theater Ensemble. Philmont Village Trustee Larry Ostrander said, “Our opinion is that we all stand by our agreement. Everything was legal and there was no favoritism.... This wasn’t done on a whim–a lot of thought and work went into the process.” But Tom Paino from the High Falls Property Owners Association said, “The problem is that local government is a good-old-boy network. They are not paying attention to the rules.” Judge Richard Koweek is expected to rule on the case in state Supreme Court soon. Read more about this story in the Columbia Paper.