Noting the "divisiveness" that the proposed biosafety laboratory has caused within the Davis community, Mayor Susie Boyd planned to introduce at last Wednesday’s City Council meeting a draft letter to UC Davis Provost Virginia Hinshaw opposing the siting of the facility on the campus.

At its Feb. 5 meeting, the council, in a 4-1 vote, had approved a letter to Hinshaw asking for more information and greater community dialogue before it could support or oppose the project. An earlier motion to oppose the project failed, 3-2.

But Boyd’s new letter states that council members "do not have reason to expect that additional information will lessen the concern or the division created by the debate. "We have concluded the facility will remain an unwelcome project by our residents," the letter states. "We wish you success in locating this important facility in a community where it is welcome."

The campus submitted a proposal Feb. 10 to the National Institutes of Health for federal funds to build a $200 million national biocontainment laboratory to study the most serious infectious diseases resulting from natural outbreaks or terrorist attacks. Grants for one or two such facilities are expected to be awarded this fall. NIH has indicated it will consider community support in awarding a grant.

"We’re disappointed, but we recognize the nature of the community response the council has received," Marj Dickinson, assistant vice chancellor for government and community relations, said Tuesday.

"If the letter is approved, we’ll need to assess its implications for our proposal. It’s clear that a critical national and statewide need remains for a lab to safely study the most serious diseases, and the campus offers a critical mass of academic expertise as well as specialized program and facilities assets that enable it to meet NIH’s research and public health objectives. As a result, we continue to feel a responsibility to help meet that need."

The campus’s proposal has been endorsed by the Yolo and Sacramento County Boards of Supervisors; the Sacramento City Council; and the public health directors of California’s 58 counties. It also received editorial support from the Davis Enterprise, The Sacramento Bee, Sacramento Business Journal, Woodland Daily Democrat and the California Aggie.

Dickinson said extensive outreach efforts would continue "to inform people about the project and to respond to specific concerns that have been raised."