City of Chicago - Department of Procurement Services. January 31, Addendum No. 1 TARGET MARKET REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS ( RFQ ) For

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1 City of Chicago - Department of Procurement Services January 31, 014 Addendum No. 1 TARGET MARKET REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS ( RFQ ) For COURT REPORTER AND TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES Specification No For which Qualifications are scheduled to be received no later than 4:00 p.m., Central Time on January 31, 014 (pursuant to the Request for Qualifications advertised December 6, 013) in the Department of Procurement Services, Bid & Bond Room (Room 301 of City Hall). Respondent must acknowledge receipt of this Addendum No. 1 in the Cover Letter of its Qualifications AND should complete and return the attached Acknowledgment by to rona.jeongco@cityofchicago.org This document contains: 1. Postponement of Qualifications Due Date;. Modification to the RFQ; 3. Answers to Questions Submitted for Clarification of the RFQ; and 4. Addendum Receipt Acknowledgment. The information contained in this Addendum No.1 is incorporated by reference into the original Request for Qualifications (RFQ) issued on December 6,

2 SECTION 1: POSTPONEMENT OF QUALIFICATIONS DUE DATE The previously advertised proposed due date has been postponed. Qualifications are now due no later than 4:00 p.m. Central Time on February 13, 014 in the Bid & Bond Room (Room 301), City Hall, 11 N. LaSalle Street, Chicago, Illinois, SECTION : MODIFICATIONS TO THE RFQ 1. Section 4.. Deadlines and Procedures for Submitting Qualifications, Item 1, of the RFQ is deleted in its entirety and replaced with the following: To be assured of consideration, Qualifications responses must be received by the City of Chicago in the City s Bid & Bond Room (Room 301, City Hall) no later than 4:00 P.M. Central Time on February 13, 014. The Bid & Bond Room can be reached at telephone number Section 4.. Deadlines and Procedures for Submitting Qualifications, Item 5, of the RFQ is deleted in its entirety and replaced with the following: The outside of each sealed envelope or box must be labeled as follows: Qualifications Enclosed Target Market Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for Court Reporting and Transcription Services Specification No Due: 4:00 p.m. Central Time, February 13, 014 Submitted by: (Name of Respondent) Package of 3. Section 4.4 Procurement Timetable, of the RFQ is deleted in its entirety and replaced with the following: Key Activity Target Date City Issues RFQ December 6, 013 Pre-Submittal Conference January 8, 014 Post-Conference Questions Due January 10, 014 Addendum Response to Clarifying Questions January 31, 014 Qualifications Due February 13, Section 5..1 Cover Letter, of the RFQ is amended by adding the following statement to the introduction paragraph: Respondents to the Target Market RFQ may respond to the Non-Target Market RFQ by stating in the cover letter that the response submitted for Target Market RFQ, Specification No, applies to the Non-Target Market RFQ, Specification No in lieu of submitting two separate responses. 5. Scope of Services, Section II.P of the RFQ is deleted in its entirety and replaced with the following: Contractor must archive an audio and typed record of proceedings consistent with statute 5 ILCS 415/3 (1) requiring archive of five (5) years from when the transcript was taken or the end of litigation, whichever is later. The end date would include any appeals or retrials. 6. Exhibit 1, Cost Proposal of the RFQ is deleted in its entirety and replaced with Exhibit 1A attached.

3 EXHIBIT 1A: COST PROPOSAL (Addendum No. 1) AREA #1 Number of Court Reporters Committed: Attendance Hearing Attendance (hourly rate) $60 if transcript is ordered within 4 hours; $90 if no transcript is ordered. Minimum Hearing attendance rate ( hours or less per day ) $10 if transcript is ordered within 4 hours; $180 if no transcript is ordered. Show up fee (appear but canceled) $90 *Standby Fee $67.50 Original Transcripts Prepared from Court Reporter s Attendance at Hearing Per page rate for fourteen (14) day $4 Per page rate for five (5) day $4.65 Per page rate for two () day $4.90 Per page rate for twenty-four (4) hour $5.80 Transcripts Prepared from Audio-Cassette, Compact Disc, Or Digital Voice Recording Per page rate for fourteen (14) day $4.00 Per page rate for five (5) day $4.30 Per page rate for two () day $4.70 Per page rate for twenty-four (4) hour $5.10 Transcript Copies Per page rate for fourteen (14) day $ Per page rate for five (5) day $.55 Per page rate for two () day $.85 Per page rate for twenty-four (4) hour $3 *WordPerfect or Word CD-ROM (with transcript) $0 *Per unit rate for audio cassette or other medium (with transcript) $10 *Per page rate for letter size photo copies.35 3

4 AREA #1 (continued) Min U Script (or equivalent) Per page rate before text is condensed for fourteen (14) day.15 Per page rate before text is condensed for five (5) day.15 Per page rate before text is condensed for two () day.15 Per page rate before text is condensed for twenty-four (4) hour.15 Other Word Locator Indices E-Transcript Postage/ fees are included in rates. *Delivery requests outside City offices, only as ordered by City employee, are reimbursable at the prevailing Federal Express / US Postal Service rate (whichever the lesser) with provision of receipt. 1 Indicate Yes or No Indicate Daily (daily basis), Weekly (weekly but not daily basis), Monthly (monthly but not weekly basis), Seldom (less than monthly basis) *Added or revised pursuant to Addendum No. 1 4

5 AREA # Number of Court Reporters Committed: Attendance Court attendance or public hearing, including trials, motions and arbitration hearings (hourly rate) Minimum court attendance rate ( hours or less per day) $60 if transcript is ordered within 4 hours; $90 if no transcript is ordered. $10 if transcript is ordered within 4 hours; $180 if no transcript is ordered. *Depositions or statements (hourly rate) $50 if transcript is ordered within 4 hours; $75 if no transcript is ordered. *Minimum rate depositions or statements (two hours or less per day) Show up fee (appear but canceled) $100 if transcript is ordered within 4 hours; $150 if no transcript is ordered. $75 deposition; $90 court or hearing. *Standby Fee $67.50 Original Transcripts Per page rate for fourteen (14) day $4 Per page rate for five (5) day $4.65 Per page rate for two () day $4.90 Per page rate for twenty-four (4) hour $5.80 Transcripts Prepared from Audio-Cassette, Compact Disc, Or Digital Voice Recording Per page rate for fourteen (14) day $4.00 Per page rate for five (5) day $4.30 Per page rate for two () day $4.70 Per page rate for twenty-four (4) hour $5.10 Transcript Copies Per page rate for fourteen (14) day $ Per page rate for five (5) day $.55 Per page rate for two () day $.85 Per page rate for twenty-four (4) hour $3 WordPerfect or Word CD-ROM (with transcript) $0 *Per unit rate for audio cassette or other medium (with transcript) $10 Per page rate for letter size photo copies.35 5

6 AREA # (continued) Original Exhibits Per page rate for fourteen (14) day.35 Per page rate for five (5) day.45 Per page rate for two () day.55 Per page rate for twenty-four (4) hour.65 Exhibit Copies Per page rate for fourteen (14) day.35 Per page rate for five (5) day.45 Per page rate for two () day.55 Per page rate for twenty-four (4) hour.65 Electronic PDF file $30 Min U Script (or equivalent) Per page rate before text is condensed for fourteen (14) day Per page rate before text is condensed for five (5) day Per page rate before text is condensed for two () day Per page rate before text is condensed for twenty-four (4) hour Other Word Locator Indices E-Transcript Postage/ fees are included in rates. *Delivery requests outside City offices, only as ordered by City employee, are reimbursable at the prevailing Federal Express / US Postal Service rate (whichever the lesser) with provision of receipt. 1 Indicate Yes or No Indicate Daily (daily basis), Weekly (weekly but not daily basis), Monthly (monthly but not weekly basis), Seldom (less than monthly basis) *Added or revised pursuant to Addendum No. 1 6

7 AREA #3 Number of Court Reporters Committed: Attendance Court attendance or public hearing, including trials, motions and arbitration hearings (hourly rate) Minimum court attendance rate ( hours or less per day) $60 if transcript is ordered within 4 hours; $90 if no transcript is ordered. $10 if transcript is ordered within 4 hours; $180 if no transcript is ordered. *Depositions or statements (hourly rate) $50 if transcript is ordered within 4 hours; $75 if no transcript is ordered. *Minimum rate depositions or statements (two hours or less per day) $100 if transcript is ordered within 4 hours; $150 if no transcript is ordered. Show up fee (appear but canceled) $10 *Standby Fee $67.50 Original Transcripts Per page rate for fourteen (14) day $4 Per page rate for five (5) day $4.65 Per page rate for two () day $4.90 Per page rate for twenty-four (4) hour $5.80 Transcript Copies Per page rate for fourteen (14) day $ Per page rate for five (5) day $.55 Per page rate for two () day $.85 Per page rate for twenty-four (4) hour $3 WordPerfect or Word CD-ROM (with transcript) $0 *Per unit rate for audio cassette or other medium (with transcript) $10 Per page rate for letter size photo copies.35 Original Exhibits Per page rate for fourteen (14) day.35 Per page rate for five (5) day.45 Per page rate for two () day.55 Per page rate for twenty-four (4) hour.65 7

8 AREA #3 (continued) Exhibit Copies Per page rate for fourteen (14) day.35 Per page rate for five (5) day.45 Per page rate for two () day.55 Per page rate for twenty-four (4) hour.65 Electronic PDF file $30 Min U Script (or equivalent) Per page rate before text is condensed for fourteen (14) day Per page rate before text is condensed for five (5) day Per page rate before text is condensed for two () day Per page rate before text is condensed for twenty-four (4) hour Other Word Locator Indices E-Transcript Postage/ fees are included in rates. *Delivery requests outside City offices, only as ordered by City employee, are reimbursable at the prevailing Federal Express / US Postal Service rate (whichever the lesser) with provision of receipt. 1 Indicate Yes or No Indicate Daily (daily basis), Weekly (weekly but not daily basis), Monthly (monthly but not weekly basis), Seldom (less than monthly basis) *Added or revised pursuant to Addendum No. 1 8

9 AREA #4 Number of Court Reporters Committed: Attendance Public Hearing/Meeting Attendance (hourly rate) $60 if transcript is ordered within 4 hours; $90 if no transcript is ordered. Minimum Hearing/Meeting attendance rate ( hours or less per day) $10 if transcript is ordered within 4 hours; $180 if no transcript is ordered. Show up fee (appear but canceled) $90 *Standby Fee $67.50 Original Transcripts Per page rate for fourteen (14) day $4 Per page rate for five (5) day $4.65 Per page rate for two () day $4.90 Per page rate for twenty-four (4) hour $5.80 Transcript Copies Per page rate for fourteen (14) day $ Per page rate for five (5) day $.55 Per page rate for two () day $.85 Per page rate for twenty-four (4) hour $3 WordPerfect or Word CD-ROM (with transcript) $0 *Per unit rate for audio cassette or other medium (with transcript) $10 Per page rate for letter size photo copies.35 Original Exhibits Per page rate for fourteen (14) day.35 Per page rate for five (5) day.45 Per page rate for two () day.55 Per page rate for twenty-four (4) hour.65 Exhibit Copies Per page rate for fourteen (14) day.35 Per page rate for five (5) day.45 Per page rate for two () day.55 Per page rate for twenty-four (4) hour.65 9

10 AREA #4 (continued) Electronic PDF file $30 Min U Script (or equivalent) Per page rate before text is condensed for fourteen (14) day Per page rate before text is condensed for five (5) day Per page rate before text is condensed for two () day Per page rate before text is condensed for twenty-four (4) hour Other Word Locator Indices E-Transcript Postage/ fees are included in rates. *Delivery requests outside City offices, only as ordered by City employee, are reimbursable at the prevailing Federal Express / US Postal Service rate (whichever the lesser) with provision of receipt. 1 Indicate Yes or No Indicate Daily (daily basis), Weekly (weekly but not daily basis), Monthly (monthly but not weekly basis), Seldom (less than monthly basis) *Added or revised pursuant to Addendum No. 1 10

11 SECTION 3: ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS SUBMITTED FOR CLARIFICATION OF THE RFQ Question 1 How many contracts does the City intend to award for Specification No and Specification No ? Will the successful bidders under Specification No be included in the same rotation list as those under Specification No ? Answer The number of contracts to be awarded will depend on the number of respondents that are found qualified through the evaluation process. Yes. 3 Who are the current contract holders? Awarded contracts for Court Reporting and Transcription Services can be found on the City s website. Go to Search for Specification number Do the requirements in Section 5..4 apply to the individual court reporters assigned to the work, or only to key office personnel (i.e. the Account Manager)? 5 Section J of the Scope of Services describes the transcript format. It does not address lines per page. 4 lines per page is standard in Chicago. Is this the desired number of lines per page for the City? Per Section 5..4, Respondent must provide a summary of individuals who will be dedicated to the Services described in each Service Area. 4 lines per page is the acceptable format. 6a In regard to Section III.A. Transcription Services : Is it possible to provide the estimated monthly volume of files to be transcribed? No. An estimate cannot be provided due to a large variance in respective range and magnitude. 6b Approximately how many files are typically provided for each assignment? An approximation cannot be made due to a large variance in respective range and magnitude. 6c Will the City accept an alternative to RealLegal, provided that the alternative is compatible with any of the City s software programs, is tamperproof, and offers a hyperlinked word index? 7 Will the City permit digital audio reporters to cover public meetings instead of stenographers? 8 Are the rates provided on Exhibit 1, Cost Proposal, the current rates paid under the contract, or the maximum rates that can be charged? No. The City requires stenographers. The rates provided will be the rates vendors will be paid for services. 9 Are the transcript times listed on the Cost Proposal business days or calendar days? Standard 14 day is calendar days; Others are business days (i.e. one day transcript on Tuesday due Wednesday; one day transcript on Friday due Monday). 10 Which vendor, if any, currently holds the contract? See answer to Question 3. 11

12 11 What are the current rates paid for stenography services? A Court Reporter is a stenographer. See answer to Question 3 to view current contract rates paid to Court Reporters. 1 How many pages of transcription were produced in 01? An estimate cannot be provided due to a large variance in respective range and magnitude. 13 Is it mandatory for transcripts to be produced in the Yes. United States? 14 The RFP specifies that there will be one original copy and 10 electronic copies. Further down it states that each envelope needs to be labeled specifically Do you want each copy to be in a separate envelope? So one for the original and then 10 separate envelopes for each CD- ROM or USB drive? 15 Will the oral presentation take place in Chicago? Yes, if required. 16 Is having an Illinois Business License the same as being authorized to do business in the State of Illinois by the Secretary of State? 17 I just want to clarify that an entity can submit a bid for just transcription services. It looks like areas # 1 & have transcription needs and court reporting needs. Please clarify as we do not provide court reporting services but we are not equipped to do court reporting. Those transcription needs are separate from the court reporting needs, correct? 18 The cost proposal does not include a Stand By Fee. The elimination of such may prevent companies to accept assignments. Please confirm that omission of a Stand By fee is intentional. Your Qualifications (including original and 10 copies) may be placed in 1 envelope or box. If your Qualifications require more than 1 envelope or box, each envelope or box must be appropriately labeled. Contact the Illinois Secretary of State for this clarification. Yes. Respondents have the option of providing Y / N and How Often within each area on their responses. The City will pay a Stand by Fee, when requested and applicable, of 75% of the nontranscript ordered hourly rate. Stand By Fee added. Refer to revised Exhibit 1A: Cost Proposal attached to Addendum No In the past, the City has used law firms located outside the City of Chicago whereby postage and courier fees have not been reimbursed. For specification will postage/courier fees not reimbursable? 0 Will transportation, either time or mileage, be reimbursed to locations outside of the Loop?. 1 Will you consider revising the archiving of media for ten years? We are willing to do it; however, it takes up an extraordinary amount of server space. It is also considered to be reporter work product and not required to be retained by statute, nor to be provided to parties. Our reporters are employees, and we can control/back up their audio. However, independent contractors, which most court reporters are, do not turn over their audio. And ten years is longer than is customary; however, we have backups much longer than that. All transcripts should be sent to City offices and the City considers this a cost of doing business. If a request is made by a City employee to send a transcript elsewhere, the City will pay the prevailing Federal Express or US Postal rate, whichever the lesser, with provision of receipt. Refer to revised Exhibit 1A: Cost Proposal attached to Addendum No. 1. No. The City agrees to be consistent with statute 5 ILCS 415/3(1) requiring archive of 5 years from when the transcript was taken or the end of the litigation, whichever is later. That means when a case is over including any appeals and retrials. Refer to revised language in Section, Item 5 in this Addendum No. 1. 1

13 The Cost Proposal tables in Exhibit 1 ask How Often? Please clarify if you are asking how often the specific is service is provided now or how often the specific service is proposed to be provided. Please answer how often the specific service is provided now. Indicate daily, weekly, monthly or seldom, as instructed. 3 Our firm does not employ court reporters. We outsource the work to other court reporting companies. Should we portray the court reporting companies as Subcontractors or as Key Personnel? 4 The Cost Proposal includes a rate for audio cassettes. Are alternatives to cassette tapes allowable (cd, mp3, etc)? In Section 5..3 of the RFQ, Respondents are required to submit information regarding its Team which may be comprised of other entities such as joint venture, partners, subcontractors, etc. In Section 5..4 of the RFQ, Respondents are required to submit information regarding key individuals who will be dedicated to Services described in each Service Area. If the Respondent is subcontracting with another business entity it should be noted in Section 5..3 as well as on the Economic Disclosure Statement. Employees of that entity would be included as Key Personnel in Section Similarly, if the Respondent is subcontracting with an individual they would be noted as a subcontractor in Section 5..3 and in Section 5..4 as Key Personnel. Note that for the Target Market RFQ, per Exhibit 4, MBE & WBE Special Conditions for Target Market Contracts, Section 1.3 Eligibility, Item C The Contractor may not subcontract more than fifty percent (50%) of the dollar value of the contract to subcontractors who are not MBEs or WBEs. Alternatives to cassette tapes are allowable. Refer to revised Exhibit 1A: Cost Proposal attached to Addendum No Out-of-State Depositions are not contemplated in the RFQ. Is this intentional? Please clarify. Yes, the omission of Out-of-State Depositions is intentional. 6 Courtroom services were mentioned at the pre-submittal conference; however, the RFQ document does not mention video services or courtroom technology services. Are these services part of this RFQ? 7 Referring to Exhibit 1 Cost Proposal, Areas # and 3, is the Deposition Hourly rate for "transcript ordered" the same for "no transcript order"? If they are the same, the rate we pay our reporters is lower than the market rate paid and thus is not a profitable business decision. 8 Referring to Exhibit 1 Cost Proposal, Areas 1, and 4, the "show up fee (appear but canceled)" is lower than the market rate paid to our reporters and thus is not a profitable business decision. Please explain why the fee is lower than in Area 3. No. The City will pay $75 per hour for Area and Area 3 depositions if a transcript is not ordered within 4 hours of service. Refer to revised Exhibit 1A: Cost Proposal attached to Addendum No. 1. These are the rates that have been set by respective user groups. The City does not desire to cancel scheduled appearances although oftentimes these are out of the City s control. 13

14 9 With regard to Exhibit 1, Scope of Services, Section III (A)()(a) Service Areas, Transcription Services: It is unclear whether the requirement, completed transcripts must be delivered by secure server download using RealLegal software for in-house printing... whether the requirement is for RealLegal to be able to download the transcripts, or if the transcripts just need to be downloadable (in some fashion) from a secure server, and able to be printed using RealLegal. The question is this: Is it acceptable for the transcripts to be downloaded from a secure server using a standard Internet browser, like Internet Explorer? 30 With regard to Exhibit 1, Scope of Services, Section III (A)()(a) Service Areas, Transcription Services: the requirement that the transcription firm s server must also be able to link the.wav files in specific order... It is unclear what the term link means here. Does this just mean that the Excel spreadsheet will indicate the order in which the.wav files are to be played back for transcription? If not, please clarify what link means. 31 Is a City of Chicago certified MBE or WBE firm responding as a Prime required to complete the Compliance Plan and Schedule D-1? 3 Is it a requirement that all work performed under this solicitation be transcribed by a licensed court reporter? No. Transcripts must be delivered electronically for download using the RealLegal format only. Each Department of Administrative Hearings (AH) hearing consists of a series of.wav files. Therefore, the prospective contractor s server must be able to identify these files as belonging to an individual hearing (case) and successfully group them together in chronological order to be able to complete each specific transcript from the individual.wav files AH submits electronically. The AH spreadsheet does not indicate the order of the files; rather the prospective contractor s server must be able to identify this information. As a point of clarification, the Schedule D-1 corresponds to the Non- Target Market RFQ, Specification No The Schedule D- corresponds to the Target Market RFQ Specification No For the Target Market RFQ, the Respondent must submit a Schedule D- showing all subcontractors, whether MBE/WBE certified or non-certified. A Respondent must submit Schedule C-s for themselves and any other MBE or WBE vendor they are subcontracting a portion of the services to. If transcripts are generated from audio recordings and there is no instance of shorthand being used, this requirement can be waived. Licensing under 5 ILCS 415 is directed to court reporters that utilize manual or mechanical shorthand when recording proceedings and generating subsequent transcripts. 14

15 City of Chicago - Department of Procurement Services January 31, 014 Addendum No. 1 TARGET MARKET REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS ( RFQ ) For COURT REPORTER AND TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES Specification No Consisting of Sections 1-4 including this Acknowledgment. SECTION 4: ADDENDUM RECEIPT ACKNOWLEDGMENT I hereby acknowledge receipt of Addendum No.1 to the RFQ named above and further state that I am authorized to execute this Acknowledgment on behalf of the company listed below. Signature of Authorized Individual Title Name of Authorized Individual (Type or Print) Company Name Business Telephone Number Complete and Return this Acknowledgment by to rona.jeongco@cityofchicago.org 15