Street talk: Ground broken for St. Brendan's By Tom Murphy News-Chronicle Perfect timing. Rip O'Dwanny, who's been chomping at the bit to build his newest Irish Inn in downtown Green Bay, picked St. Patrick's Day week to break ground for St. Brendan's Inn. Shamrock shovels hit the dirt Thursday St. Brendan's will have 30-plus rooms in the 200/300 block of South Washington Street. It will be adjacent to the newest financial institution in town, Johnson Bank. Johnson Bank is the finanical offshoot of S.C. Johnson & Co. of Racine, the ultra-successful manufacturer of Pledge, etc. (Speaking of that, can someone logically tell us why "family company" patriarch Sam Johnson is so opposed to WE Energies plans to upgrade coal-fired power plants near his community?) Johnson Bank provided O'Dwanny with financing for St. Brendan's. The bank's presence saved the project after several attempts at initial public offerings couldn't get off the ground. O'Dwanny lives in Milwaukee where his flagship inn, County Clare, is located on the upper East Side. Among the other ventures of his Harp & Eagle company is 52 Stafford in Plymouth and an authentic Irish Manor House in the midlands of the Emerald Isle. O'Dwanny's travel arm offers some spectacular combination air fair/lodging deals for those who yearn for a first or second (or fifth or more) visit to Ireland. WATER, WATER--- Everywhere or nowhere Green Bay has totally outmaneuvered its suburbs on the way to long-term resolution of the potable water situation. The water commission's February vote to cut the diameter of a second pipeline to Lake Michigan to 54 inches from 66 inches was a magnificent (if you're on the city's side) subterfuge. The suburbs were snookered into paying the difference for the larger line. If they didn't agree to pay, the alternatives were the pie-in-the-sky proposal of aquifer storage recovery (ASR) or to build their own line to the lake. The unproven ASR idea was first advanced by the city commission to hold the suburbs attention. Tests failed. As long as there is some seepage of natural contaminants into an aquifer, ASR is a non-starter. The city commission knew this early on. At least one of their members still believes he has strong ties to the State Department of Natural Resources. Plus, he likes to drop names and play the role of behind-the-scenes manipulator. The commission also knew, very early on, that the Central Brown County Water Authority lacked political finesse and leadership. Lacking both, the grafitti was on the wall. There is no way the optimum solution to the problem - a metropolitan water delivery system based on the metropolitan sewerage district model - was attainable. Green Bay voted for the smaller pipe two weeks ago because it knew the move would force the suburbs to make a decision short of the MSD model. Commission member John Brogan told Ray Barrington of the News-Chronicle, "The suburbs can either bet the farm on ASR or do their own pipeline or treat their wells for radium." "Let them eat cake," was Brogan's arrogant attitude. Marie Atoinette he's not. For years, Brogan was the voice behind retired Green Bay Mayor Sam Halloin's disdain for a metropolitan water authority. Outgoing Mayor Paul Jadin will deny it, but we believe Brogan plays the same role today. He relishes his self-perception as a king maker. And he puts his money where his mouth is. All one has to do is pour over the periodic lists of contributors to local, state and national political campaigns. Although we believe Jadin's outlook will broaden once he moves from his city post to the presidency of the Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, it's too little, too late for the suburbs to achieve the most reasonable price for water. TUNNEL VISION Educators, particularly those in collegiate administration, seldom are known for their encompassing view of the broad economic picture. Insular, is perhaps a most accurate adjective. So it is with Katherine Lyall, president of the University of Wisconsin System. At a Joint Finance Committee hearing in Madison last week, Lyall told legislators the state is "in danger of mortgaging our future" if the UW System has to adhere to the $250 million in cuts proposed by Gov. James Doyle. Hear this, Ms. Lyall: We all have mortgages and we work to pay them off. Further, your system, so overburdened with duplicate offerings and underworked tenured staff, probably could withstand a larger cut than that proposed by the governor. The harshest advice for Lyall came from State Sen. Alberta Darling, co-chairman of the commitee and a Republican supporting Democrat Doyle's cuts. Darling told Doyle not to use "scare tactics" such as freezing admissions, cutting enrollments or eliminating popular majors to get her way. Kind of like local educators threatening to drop football or band to blackmail school boards and voters into approving property tax increases. Doyle says (foolishly, we continue to argue) he will not raise taxes as part of the effort to eliminate Wisconsin's deficits. Since schools - from UW through the smallest K-5 district - account for most of our property taxes, cuts have to start some where. Why not at the top, Ms. Lyall?