Williamson County commissioners voted to create a subsurface sewage disposal system (SSDS) task force after multiple residents described long delays and high costs navigating county septic permitting.

The resolution, as amended, instructs county staff and outside experts to review county-specific requirements that exceed state rules, assess the public and fiscal impacts of those requirements and return recommendations to the commission. The task force will include stakeholder representation and at least one county staff designee from the community development department.

Several residents detailed multi-year permitting processes and significant out-of-pocket expense. Jessica Bell said her family’s house remained unbuilt for more than three years and estimated direct extra costs, including extended rentals and construction changes, exceeded hundreds of thousands of dollars. “We spent four years living out of various rentals … That cost us over $20,000 … We lost our $20,000 in architectural designs because we had to change our designs,” she told the commission.

Dr. Doug York and other longtime landowners recounted earlier episodes where record-keeping, shifting rules and additional remediation requirements imposed added cost and delay. County sponsors said the task force is intended to bring soil scientists, engineers, surveyors and other experts together to identify which county requirements are necessary and which could be removed or simplified.

Commissioner Brian Clifford, a sponsor, said the county’s SDM regulations are far longer than the state’s and impose higher costs and delays for residents. He and other commissioners said they do not intend to undercut legitimate health and safety protections; rather, they want the task force to identify rules that impose unnecessary cost or time burdens.

The commission also approved a separate resolution appointing Commissioner Judy Herbert to serve as the commission’s representative on the task force.