DAPHNE, Ala.— City Councilman John Lake has been vocal about his desire for the city to buy local goods whenever possible to support nearby businesses that in turn support the city and community.

Despite Lake’s pleas to the council, the council was forced to award bids to the state bid list for various reasons.

For the five police vehicles, 14 invitations to bid were sent out, but only four were returned, one of which was a no-bid. The lowest bid was $27,630 per vehicle from an out-of-state vendor. Local dealership Terry Thompson submitted a bid of $28,895, which exceeded the city’s 3 percent variance by more than $800.

For an extended-cab pick-up truck to be purchased by the recreation department, 16 invitations to bid were sent out and four were returned. Bayview Ford quoted the city a price of $18,688 before bids went out, which was the amount budgeted for the purchase. When Bayview Ford’s bid was returned to the city, the price had increased to $18,991. To stay within budget, David McKelroy, recreation director, chose to go with the state bid list price of $18,351.

Lake cast the only vote against both bid awards. He said even though local was not an option in these instances, he still wanted the city’s department heads and council members to keep local in mind in the future.

“I want to see that the vehicles are purchased in Daphne. I am going to continue to make this an issue because we have to support our local businesses within the city, which is how we make our money. We make the lion’s share of our income from taxes,” Lake said.