John Gontrum, Esq.

Executive Secretary Gabriel Gnall, Esq.

Procurement Advisor William Morgante, PWS Wetlands Administrator Rachel Hershey, Esq.

General Counsel

80 Calvert Street, Room 117, Annapolis, Maryland 21401

410.260.7335 www.bpw.maryland.gov

Amendment #1 for Request for Proposals (RFP)

RECORDING AND TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES

Solicitation No. 2026-01 March 23, 2026

This Amendment #1 is being issued to amend and clarify certain information contained in the above named RFP. All information contained herein is binding on all Offerors who respond to this RFP. Specific parts of the RFP have been amended. The following changes/additions are listed below; new language has been double underlined and marked in bold (ex. new language) and language deleted has been marked with a strikeout (ex. language deleted).

1. Amend RFP Key Information Summary Sheet as follows:

Proposal Due (Closing) Date & Time: March 31, April 7, 2026, 1:00 P.M. Local Time

2. Amend Attachment E – Financial Proposal Form as below. A complete RFP, incorporating this Amendment #1, is being provided along with this Amendment. Please make sure to use the amended Financial Proposal Form included in that RFP when submitting a proposal.

YEAR 1

Transcript Delivery: $ _____ per page meeting x 23 meetings =$ =

YEAR 2

Transcript Delivery: $ _____ per page meeting x 23 meetings =$ =

YEAR 3

Transcript Delivery: $ _____ per page meeting x 23 meetings =$ =

OPTION YEAR 1

Transcript Delivery: $ _____ per page meeting x 23 meetings =$ =

OPTION YEAR 2

Transcript Delivery: $ _____ per page meeting x 23 meetings =$ =

3. Amend the third paragraph of RFP Section 3.1 as follows:

The business conducted at these public meetings deals with issues of substantial importance to the citizens of the State of Maryland. It is common for the news media to attend and record these meetings. Presenters are not required to sign in, and the identification of the presenter, including their name, organization, company, or who they may represent, are – for the most part – provided verbally when the presenter is introduced to the Board during the meeting. The Contractor may request any Speaker's Request list from the Contract Monitor prior to or after the meeting. Each Board of Public Works meeting must be reported verbatim, and transcripts prepared of the discussions and testimony of all meeting participants.

4. Amend RFP Section 3.2.2(b), (c), and (e)(2) as follows:

(b) Use two reliable and recognized methods of recording, including one method that will produce an audio recording immediately upon the conclusion of each meeting. Currently, on-site recording is performed via a laptop in the meeting room, and off-site recording through the live stream app. The audio recording must be provided in MP3 format. Due to the length of some Board meetings, and the need to keep MP3 audio files within a manageable file size so that they may be emailed and easily transferred, it is preferred that MP3 files be recorded at lower bit and sampling rates (ex. 32kbps; 22.05khz sampling for MP3, or a similar industry standard for speech recordings), as long as the speakers can be heard clearly in the recordings. Recordings of longer meetings (i.e., several hours) may be divided into multiple recordings. A central audio plug-in is made available at the Board meetings. These plug-ins currently utilize XLR jacks and are used by the press to connect to audio of the room (the jacks and audio interface are not controlled by the Board of Public Works).

(c) Most Board meetings are held in a hybrid format: in-person, with an online streaming component as well. For these hybrid format meetings, the Contractor must provide two individuals from the Contractor: one in-person at the meeting, and one virtual/online. If the Board meetings are conducted completely online/virtual (ex. due to inclement weather), the Contractor must provide only one individual attending virtually/online. The State will provide the Contractor with a link to the live stream app for every Board meeting, including meetings that are held in the hybrid format (in-person and virtual) or only virtual format. Through that live stream app the Contractor is able to record audio for the off-site audio recording requirement. The Board currently uses GoTo Webinar as its live stream app.

The Board reserves the right to request an additional in-person transcriber for larger or longer meetings that may take place, with the Board providing at least three business days’ notice in advance of the meeting to the Contractor. The Contractor shall ensure the speakers’ names and titles are correctly recorded, assisting with technical malfunctions during meetings, and linking discussions with corresponding agenda items. All Contractor personnel shall conduct themselves in a professional manner and shall be appropriately dressed in business attire. The Board reserves the right to reject any Contractor personnel at any time and to require the Contractor to provide a replacement satisfactory to the Board as soon as reasonably possible. The Contractor is solely responsible for obtaining parking and security access cards for its personnel.

(e)(2) Contractor shall produce meeting transcriptions in a “volume” for each meeting. A transcript “volume” for the purposes of this Contract is a bound file containing a title page or pages showing the meeting date, time and place; the members of the Board in attendance; the presiding officer; the name of each party appearing before the Board and the organization represented; and the names of the reporters responsible for the transcript. Contractor shall ensure the correct spelling of names. Each transcript volume shall contain a Table of Contents, correct references to the appropriate BPW agenda item(s); the identity of persons appearing before the Board; and page numbering, following the format provided by the BPW Office. The contractor will be paid a set transcript Per Page Price and a Transcript Delivery fee per page meeting, as established in their Financial Proposal.

5. Amend RFP Section 3.3.1 as follows:

(a) Each person who is an employee or agent of the Contractor shall display his or her company ID badge at all times while on State premises. Upon request of authorized State personnel, each such employee or agent shall provide additional photo identification.

(b) At all times at any facility, the Contractor’s personnel shall cooperate with State site requirements that include being prepared to be escorted at all times, providing information for State badge issuance, and wearing the badge in a visible location at all times.

(c) Normally, Contractor staff enter State buildings through the main entrance of each building that includes a guard desk and metal detector/baggage scanner. The guard at the desk issues a temporary badge/sticker and may require that any equipment brought by the Contractor be scanned. The Contractor is not permitted to store its equipment in the State’s buildings between meetings. The Board of Public Works Office does not coordinate issuing badges/stickers; that is currently the responsibility of the Department of General Services and its security guards assigned to State buildings.

Issued and authorized by

Gabriel Gnall

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