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220. Regular Meeting December 17, 200 1 Page 13 facing a potential serious problem. In 1996, Council discussed adding sources to our water source and now it seems we are using the added sources to replace our water supply. He also felt we needed to get a better handle on this matter. Mr. Gilley stated he is aware of other wells, which will come under the influence of surface water, but does not know the time frame. If these wells do become contaminated, it does not mean we cannot use them for a water supply. It just means we have to treat the water differently. The City's long-range plan is to transport the water to a central water treatment plant. Ms. Hughson asked if the transporting would require a lot of parallel piping in order to pipe the untreated water separately. Mr. Gilley stated it would require parallel piping which might make economical sense depending on the need of the water supply. Mr. Taggart stated we will be looking at doing a separate water supply study this year. Mr. Mihalkanin referred to a letter the Council had received about production of the water from wells, in the same general area, which are be changed by the use. He stated we do know certain areas, where there have been activities, which are now contaminated and were not before the activities. Mr. Gilley stated these wells were evaluated at the time of construction. Mr. Mihalkanin requested the staff to get a second opinion. Mr. Gilley stated we could get a second opinion and could see what other cities and counties along the Edwards Aquifer are experiencing. Ms. Hughson asked for an estimate on all small wells. Mr. Taggart stated some of the small or abandoned wells are plugged with concrete, and Oakridge is nearly completed with installing equipment and expects to start up in January. Ms. Hughson asked if these wells were going to be kept like the Estates. Mr. Taggart stated this would be treated similar to the Estates and we will be servicing the former Elgin System with surface water from the main system. Mr. Taggart also stated CIP project extends pipelines far South to replace sections of pipeline and allow transmission tasks to provide water to the service area and boosters to provide water pressure. Mayor Chiu introduced a discussion regarding traffic light synchronization. Mr. Gilley stated Mr. Needham was here earlier and had to leave, but Ms. Anderson has given the Council a memo from Mr. Needham from TxDOT. This memo is an outline of where we stand and a list of signal lights, which TxDOT owns. TxDOT is underway with timing signals and pedestrians walkways in the downtown areas. Ms. Hughson asked if they were going to change from 120 to 60 seconds. Ms. Anderson stated she did pass the recommendation onto TxDOT. Mr. Mihalkanin asked what the cost would be to the City to take over the TxDOT owned lights. Mr. Gilley stated the approximate cost at this time to completely control synchronization would be $950,000 and the cost was originally estimated at $60,000 for the radio control signalization. That estimate is now around $240,000. The most expensive cost would be the infrastructures to replace the poorly installed and old signals, which could cost another million. Ms. Hughson asked if this would be TxDOT's responsibility to fix these things before the city assumed responsibility for them. Mr. Mihalkanin stated this is a problem, which is affecting our quality of life and economy, and the Council needs to do something about this, maybe in one to two years. Ms. Anderson stated Mr. Gilley has talked to TxDOT about the City taking over the lights, and she feels if we partner with TxDOT now, the City would be further ahead than if we waited. Mayor Chiu stated he thinks it would be beneficial to the City if TxDOT and the City would go into a joint effort to fix the lights and then later