Supporters of a proposed bio-defense lab in Granville County, including university and government officials, want $262,248 in public money to pay for a seven-month initiative to sway public opinion.

The Golden LEAF Foundation, which oversees half of the state's money from a national settlement with cigarette manufacturers, will consider the request at a special meeting this morning. The money would be used to buy ads in local newspapers, revamp a Web site, send informational postcards to residents and for other outreach. French West Vaughan, a Raleigh advertising and public relations firm, would receive $107,450 of the total.

At issue is the $450 million National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility that the federal government wants to build to study large-animal diseases. A site north of Butner is on the short list for consideration, along with sites in Georgia, Kansas, Mississippi and Texas.

Residents have rallied in opposition to the Butner site, fearing that the facility could release pathogens that would harm them.

Supporters say such fears are overstated and that the lab would be an economic engine for the rural area north of Durham.

"The activities proposed will serve to correct misinformation that has been spread about the purpose and safety" of the lab, the N.C. Biotechnology Center wrote in an application to Golden LEAF. The center submitted the request on behalf of the N.C. Consortium for the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, of which it is a member.

The consortium originally sought $249,098 from Golden LEAF at the end of last year. The board of directors asked for modifications to the request, including a requirement that the group obtain a letter of support from Granville County commissioners, foundation President Valeria Lee said.

The consortium has not received the letter but still wants the money.

"We're not interested in doing a PR campaign," said Warwick Arden, dean of N.C. State University's College of Veterinary Medicine, who is part of the consortium. "If this site doesn't come to North Carolina because there is a better site for it somewhere else, that's great. I won't lose a second of sleep over that. If it doesn't come to North Carolina because of misrepresentation, misunderstanding or fear, that's really a shame."

He said states, including Kansas, have used public funds to mount more aggressive efforts to win the operation. The Department of Homeland Security, which is leading the search, is expected to decide by year's end where to put the facility.

One opponent of the Butner site said he is unmoved by the consortium's request for funding.

"I see this as a last-ditch effort," said Bill McKellar, an organizer with the Granville Nonviolent Action Team, which rallied to thwart the lab. The government will soon stop taking public comment, making outreach pointless, he said.