The City of Vicksburg took access to fuel over savings Wednesday as the Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted to keep Fuel Man as the city’s fuel provider.

The board voted 3-0 to continue the city’s 20-year relationship with Fuel Man over a proposal from The Pantry Inc., which projected saving the city more than $8,000 a year.

The Pantry operates nine Kangaroo convenience stores in Vicksburg. Its proposal offered to save the city $8,199 annually in service fees, which Fuel Man charges on top of the wholesale fuel prices that governments are charged. The board, however, said the city’s access to Fuel Man’s 29 pumps across the city outweighed the potential savings.

An eight-member fuel committee led by city purchasing director Tim Smith recommended in March that the city remain with Fuel Man, citing access to fuel as the main reason for remaining with the company.

When the committee made its recommendation, the members said that Kangaroo’s locations that are primarily on Interstate 20 and U.S. 61 would make purchases for city vehicles assigned to the city’s North Ward more expensive and inconvenient. Smith said the vehicles would have to drive extra miles to get fuel.