GOSHEN -- Completion of the fiber-optic network linking Elkhart and Goshen and opening up broadband possibilities for the private sector here won't come until next year, several months later than originally expected.

Elkhart County contracted last year with GramTel to build the network to link 14 county government buildings in the two cities to speed and streamline operations. The private sector will also be able to use the network, increasing high-speed connectivity here.

When the county and South Bend-based GramTel inked their agreement in October 2008, the timeline called for completion of the network by last July. The county at the time agreed to pitch in $750,000 to help cover the cost.

Hitches in gaining access to the utility poles that will hold the fiber-optic cable has slowed GramTel, however, County Administrator Tom Byers said Saturday. Accordingly, the new timeline calls for completion by next March, he told the Elkhart County Council.

The new fiber-optic network is part of $6.04 million in planned upgrades to the county's information technology system. The Elkhart County Council on Saturday appropriated $445,000 as part of the ongoing process.

The council made several other big-ticket appropriations Saturday and here are some highlights:

Inmate health care, feeding: Officials appropriated about $602,000 to cover the cost of health care and feeding of inmates in the county jail here.

With fewer inmates able to work as part of the county's work-release program, there are more mouths to feed, while unanticipated medical issues pushed health care costs up, leading to Saturday's extra appropriation.

On the bright side, the housing of Indiana Department of Corrections inmates here is expected to bring in $800,000 to the sheriff's department, just for the last four months of the year, according to the Elkhart County Sheriff's Department.

In other sheriff's department news, Undersheriff Julie Dijkstra said the move to the new headquarters building taking form near the new jail south of Elkhart now ought to take place by mid-January. Sheriff Mike Books had earlier said he hoped the move out of the existing structure in Goshen would occur before the end of 2009.

Roads, plowing: The Elkhart County Highway Department received $580,000 to help deal with snow removal and related road-clearing efforts this coming winter. It also got $450,000 to help with road improvement projects next year.

Buildings: The council appropriated $650,000 to supplement $629,800 in federal stimulus funding to upgrade five county buildings. The proposed changes -- lighting improvements and upgrades to heating and air conditioning systems, among other things -- aim to improve energy efficiency. They are expected to save at least $150,000 a year.

Byers had initially sought another $250,000 for the effort, but said the funds weren't vital to the effort and the request was withdrawn.