IFB_30488-2_Addendum 1.pdf

KATHY HOCHUL

Governor

TERENCE O'LEARY

Commissioner

ADDENDUM #1

INVITATION FOR BID # 30488-2

2026 Threat Assessment and Management (TAM) Team Summit Date: August 26, 2026 Bid Due Date: September 2, 2026, at 2:00 pm To Prospective Proposers: This addendum is being issued to provide response to the questions received for this Solicitation.

Item # Bidder Questions DHSES Response

• Do you know if the group would consider alternate dates? We would look at the following week, 12/15/26.

• Are your dates flexible? We do not have Dec 8-10, but do have the prior week, same pattern over Dec 1-3.

• Will the group consider the week of 12/14/26

• Is the date flexible or firm?

• What date or dates are you interested in?

Please see General Scope Summary Section 2.1 of the solicitation, the dates for this Summit are:

December 8 – December 10.

Alternative dates are not being considered for this event.

• Can your general session room set for 300 in rounds also be your meal space with buffet set in the foyer of the ballroom?

• On-Site Dining Facilities – Is it mandatory for the dining facilities to be separated from the General Session space? Would it be acceptable to serve breakfast, breaks, lunch, and dinner within the General Session space (Ballroom)?

Yes, we can eat in the main meeting space but prefer to have the food service and set-up space separate from the main meeting area to minimize noise and distractions for event attendees.

• How many approximate guests?

• Time Frame of event?

• Breakfast and lunch?

• Are you looking for a proposal?

Please see Section 2 of the solicitation for Scope of Work. These questions are all covered in the Solicitation document in the Contract Reporter.

If you are having trouble viewing the solicitation or any of the IFB documents, please reach out to the New York State Contract Reporter Team at:

Contact Us.

Up to 300 guests over the dates of December 8 – December 10.

Meal requirements are as detailed in section 2.2.4.

of the Solicitation.

To submit a proposal please review section 3.3.1 of the Solicitation for Completed forms due with bid and submit the required documents listed to

304888bids@dhses.ny.gov before the bid due date of 2PM ET September 2, 2026.

The hotel offers rooms with 1 king or 2 double beds. No pull-out sofas. Single or Double occupancy only. Is not having triple occupancy, ok?

We are okay with no triple occupancy rooms.

As of today, the GSA rates for December are not published. Historically, they should be published this or next week. If by chance they are not published prior to the bid submission due date, how should hotels complete the bid form?

Please see Solicitation Section 2.2.3 a) Hotel Room Requirements

…“Bidders are strongly encouraged to propose room rates at or below the applicable GSA Per Diem Rate.”

Please provide your best competitive room rate.

Are the individuals who are paying their rooms tax exempt? If so, they will each need to present an ST-129 form upon check-in.

Please reference Form ST-129 and https://www.tax.ny.gov/bus/st/govexempt.htm for those who qualify for tax exemption.

An ST-129 will be presented by each individual who qualifies for tax exemption.

The hotel has no issue with allowing up to 5 room cancellations no later than 24 hours prior to arrival, however, this would apply/be part of the cumulative attrition allowance. (pg. 26 6.12 and pg. 32 6.29)

Please see Solicitation sections 2.2.3 Hotel Room Requirements and 6.12 Right of Room Reduction.

The reduction of 5 rooms with 24-hour notice is only applicable in the event of an emergency situation. This is considered separate from the cumulative attrition allowance.

• Can you clarify the setup for the main room? It states classroom with round tables. Is it a mixture of classroom/rounds? Can it be crescent rounds?

• Main Meeting Room- Please clarify if the set-up is classroom style or skirted round tables (Banquet Rounds).

• I would not be able to do 300 people classroom. If I can do it, it would be rounds of 6.

The main meeting room must have space for 300 guests to be seated at tables. The table arrangement may be banquet rounds, crescents, classroom style, or a combination, as long as the space accommodates 300 people seated at skirted tables.

Due to another group booked on Monday, is having access to setup around 6pm ok instead of 5pm?

Yes.

How many wireless lavalieres and wireless handhelds microphones are needed in the main room?

We would like to have two lavalieres and two wireless handheld microphones if possible.

• Can you clarify what is needed for the Auxiliary room?

• Is there an approximate square footage that is needed?

• How many tables/chairs/people?

• Will you need hard Internet lines in this room and how many AC/Power Strips will you need?

The room should have space to comfortably fit 10- 20 people to utilize during session breaks for work, check e-mails, and store conference supplies. Wi- Fi access would suffice, no hard lines needed, and 1-2 power strips if available.

12 What AV is needed for the (3) proposed Breakout Room meetings Dec 8th-10th?

Please see section 2.2.7 Audio and Video (AV) Support requirements.

“The Main Meeting Room must have a podium, projector, screen, wireless microphone, lapel microphone, and be wired for sound. Screen(s) should be appropriately sized for the room. Wi-Fi access for attendees must be provided, free of charge. Projectors must be operable from an HDMI hookup located at the podium. If multiple screens are utilized in a single room, they must be operable from a single HDMI input; any necessary splitting must be provided by the Contractor…”

Please see the revised Bid Form, ‘Breakout Room’ has been updated to show as Auxiliary room.

Is a guestroom near the main meeting room ok for the lactation room?

The additional room would be added to the total room commitment on bid form.

A guestroom near the main meeting room would be satisfactory.

The cost of this room should be allocated to Section 3 meeting rooms on the Attachment 1 Bid Form, please see the revised Bid Form with a section for the Lactation Room.

We would like to add the following clarification to the agreement / terms and conditions regarding the Administrative Fee and Event Fee associated with the function portion of the bid.

This language is included to clearly define what the fees listed in the "Percent Service Charge" column of the bid represent and to avoid any misunderstanding regarding their application.

"All prices are subject to a taxable Administrative Fee of 24% and a taxable Event Fee of 4% on food and beverage charges. The Administrative Fee and Event Fee are not a gratuity and are retained by the Hotel to cover administrative and other operating costs. Tax and Administrative Fee are subject to change. No charges or fees on this contract, including the 24% Administrative Fee and 4% Event Fee, are purported or intended to be a gratuity for the employees who provide services to the guests at the event. No charges or fees will be distributed to the employees who provide services to the guests at the event as a gratuity."

DHSES declines this request.

Where are the majority of the attendees traveling from within the state? (300 attendees with only 50 peak rooms)

This event is open statewide to stakeholders.

• Hold Our Hotel cannot accommodate the meeting space. Can we use an adjacent Convention Center for Meeting rooms.

• What would that look like to bid with the meetings at the convention center? We are two separate entities so they would

Please see Solicitation section 6.7 Subcontractors.

If partnering with a conference center or another hotel, the partner would be listed as a sub-contractor. Only one bid from you, the prime do their own bidding/contracting/payments as would we?

contractor, would be submitted and include the conference center costs in your bid proposal

Our neighboring Convention Center is a state-owned building and cannot agree to Indemnification

Any partner Conference/ Convention center would be considered a sub-contractor of the Contractor/bidder.

Please see Solicitation section 6.7 Subcontractors and section 6.16 Indemnification.

No subcontract entered into by the Contractor shall relieve the Contractor of any liabilities or obligations in this IFB or the resultant contract. The Contractor accepts full responsibility for the actions of any subcontractor or subcontractor’s employee(s) who carry out any of the provisions of any contract resulting from this IFB.

The Contractor shall assume all risks of liability for its performance or that of any of its subcontractors, and covenants and agrees to indemnify and hold harmless State of New York, its agents, officers and employees from any and all claims, suits, causes of action and losses of whatever kind and nature, arising out of or in connection with the performance of any contract resulting from this solicitation, including negligence, active or passive or improper conduct of the subcontractors, or the failure by the subcontractors to perform any obligations or commitments to the State or third parties arising out of or resulting from any contract resulting from this solicitation.

The form says courtesy block, we require 10% attrition on all of our room blocks.

Is this going to prevent our bid from being considered?

Please see Solicitation section 6.29 Room Attrition.

“DHSES may reduce the total cumulative Hotel Room Requirements by up to 20% without penalty.

In addition to this 20% allowance, Hotel will also permit up to five (5) emergency room cancelations with 24 hours’ notice, pursuant to Section 6.12 – Right of Room Reduction…”

Rooms may be reduced without penalty 48 hours prior to arrival, if they are cancelled within 24 hours the attendee will be charged.

If cancelled rooms drop the room block below the required number of rooms to meet attrition, it will be charged accordingly to the Master account.

Do either of these prevent a bid from being considered?

Please see Solicitation section 6.12 Right of Room Reduction.

“DHSES shall have the right to reduce up to 20% of the total cumulative number of room nights by the cutoff date, as set forth in Section 6.29 - Room Attrition.

Given the nature of DHSES emergency services, it may be necessary for last minute cancelations, therefore the hotel shall allow for a reduction of up to five (5) hotel rooms, provided notice is given to the hotel no later than 24 hours prior to the summit.”

20 • Parking Requirements – Parking for large utility Vehicles must be

A small number of vehicles may exceed 80”.

Please note that it is not a requirement for large utility vehicles to be in a parking garage. It is accommodated. Please specify the size so I can check if it will fit in our garage.

• Parking is in a city lot and large vehicles will be based on availability acceptable to have open-air parking available for the small number of vehicles to which this may apply.

Room Attrition- Please confirm that we can add 80% attrition on the contract.

Please see Solicitation section 6.29 Room Attrition

“DHSES may reduce the total cumulative Hotel Room Requirements by up to 20% without penalty.

In addition to this 20% allowance, Hotel will also permit up to five (5) emergency room cancelations with 24 hours’ notice, pursuant to Section 6.12 – Right of Room Reduction…”

What is the Food & Beverage budget per person per day?

There is no per person Food and Beverage Budget.

Please provide your best competitive rate for Food and Beverages line items on the Attachment 1 Bid Form.

In Section 2.2.4 Meal Requirements can DHSES provide a final total of attendees 10 days before the start of the summit?

DHSES is amenable to this request.

Section 2.2.4 Meal requirements:

DHSES will provide a final total of attendees ten

(10) days prior to the start of the summit.

We can Agree to the Termination Clause in section 6.13 as long as the event Is canceled outside of 14 days before arrival.

No changes will be made to the Termination Clause.

To clarify section 6.13 Termination Clause, if DHSES cancels the contract, with or without cause, DHSES must give the Contractor 30 days’ written notice of termination. Therefore, DHSES cannot cancel the contract within 14 days of the scheduled date of the event.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the Contractor makes any arrangement for assignment for the benefit of creditors, DHSES may cancel the contract upon 10 days’ written notice.

Where was the event held last year. How many participants attended, and how many guest rooms were picked up?

Last year the Summit was held at The Albany Hilton, with a room block of 133 rooms and 260 attendees.

All other terms and conditions remain unchanged.

If submitting a proposal, this Addendum #1 for IFB# 30488-2 must contain an original signature, be dated, attached to, and made a part of your proposal.

Company Name:

Address (include City, State, Zip)

Bidders Name (please print)

Title:

Signature:

Date: