Estimating
We have been in contact with POD and have provided additional pricing for the site preparation of the 20 MW Base Line site. There are five dug wells on the property that have to be decommissioned plus two structures that have to be demolished. Things are beginning to move on this project.

We took a look at an interesting and scary project that involved two tenders for pre-eng steel buildings. One was a Design-Build for a 39,000 square foot Maintenance Facility and the other was a Design-Build for an 8,500 square foot Armoured Fighting Vehicle Maintenance Building, both located at the Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan! Yikes! We would only consider bidding as a Supply Only contractor. I noticed that Frecon Construction Limited took plans and I contacted Dean Drevniok to see if he was serious. He said they are considering it and would get back to me.

Tim has been busy pricing extra work on the Tenaris settling pond project and submitted tenders for some other work for Tenaris as well as a small demolition job at the Great Lakes Forest Research Centre. He is also bidding on a small pre-eng building for PWC Workshop G.

Tim and Mike submitted pricing to Apollo Gold, located just east of Timmins for some cladding installation on their Black Fox Mill Fine Circuit building. We were 2nd out of six prices and they had to do a lengthy review of the two bids before awarding it to the lowest bidder. They told us "We are very aware of the quality of your work and your organization as a whole" and that is why it was so difficult to make a decision. Well if we didn't get the job at least we got a very good complement!

We met with Adler Moving to discuss their project and the revisions that have been made. We will be submitting our revised pricing shortly and hope to line this one up for next spring.

We continue to work with Ellsin Environmental and we would like to get started soon. We are in the process of securing the financing for this lease-to-own project. We want to get the foundations completed and backfilled as quickly as possible and the Steelway building could arrive in January. The schedule is to have the building up and the floors poured prior to the arrival of the equipment in March of 2010.

We have completed negotiations for the 240,000 square foot Co-Gen building located in Hornepayne. The Steelway pre-engineered steel building is 400 feet wide by 600 feet long with a 45 foot eave height. It covers about 5.5 acres! It has 4 rows of interior columns. Our scope of work is engineering and design of the foundations (M.R. Wright & Associates), building foundations including supply of the concrete and reinforcing steel (DMC Reinforcing), supply of the building (Steelway Building Systems) and complete erection of the building. The concrete will be supplied by Lafarge North America out of their Marathon plant. Since there will be a substantial amount of additional concrete for the Co-Gen equipment, the Owner is considering a batch plant on site. We have placed the order with Steelway and will start on the foundation design shortly. We will probably be on site in early January. This building is the 3rd largest that we have completed. The largest one was the OSBBC plant in Barwick, Ontario in 1997 and it was 305,000 square feet and the second largest one was G-P Flakeboard in 1994 and it was 264,000 square feet. We are looking forward to this challenging project. Not quite sure who the Super or the Project Manager will be yet. Stay tuned more to come…

We submitted our pricing for the 16,500 square foot manufacturing plant and are now working on the financing for the lease-to-own arrangement. We have hooked up with a large finance company from Toronto that just loves renewable energy projects so things are looking good.

We will be meeting with Elementa in the near future to discuss the requirements for their new facility and hopefully we can line this one up for a spring start as well.

We are anxiously waiting for the tender documents for Phase Two of the Algoma University Bioscience building. We have been informed that it should be out for tender on December 7th with a closing date of January 12, 2010.

Matheson Constructors have invited us to provide pricing for the civil work for a Wastewater Treatment Plant in Sauble Beach and we are waiting for the drawings.

We also submitted pricing for an air hanger to Matheson for a client in Sudbury. We are waiting to hear about this one.

New Employees
We have approximately 99% of our employees back to work finally and actually will need more in the very near future. It has been a very slow year with a very late start, but better late than never!

AELP Co-Gen Foundations

John's crew still consists of Scott G, JR and Jake. They are still waiting for the gas holding tank to be completed and then they have about 230 metres of concrete to pour; this should take place soon. They have now poured 4,597.5 metres of concrete in total. They are working on miscellaneous items and are almost complete. John and crew will be moving on the Service Corridor concrete work very shortly.

AELP Co-Gen Cladding Installation

John M and Jason S have Donnie C, Ryan C, Justin S, Tyler S, Cris P, Len B, Trevor M, Chris M, Mike M, Tyson D and John B working on this project. They still have the Fraco Lift on site as well 4 or 5 manlifts. They continue to install liner panel, Z bars, insulation and exterior siding. They are approximately 65% complete and hopefully can finish it up by Christmas.

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Algoma University Biosciences & Technology Convergence Centre

Wayne is the Super on this project and Ken S is the Project Manager. Wayne still has Bob H, Craig T, Jerry C and Zak as his crew. The piling is complete and the under slab rough-in for mechanical and electrical continue. Ontario Concrete Finishing has poured about 66% of the floor slabs and has one pour left to go. Jamie will be glad to get the last pour done. Because this building is LEED Gold, the concrete mix designs are different and the concrete takes forever to set up. Wayne should be starting the walls soon.

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Essar Steel/Anmar Service Corridor Foundations

We were awarded this project by Anmar Mechanical. The boreholes were done on November 30th and we are waiting for the actual soils report. Elliott Engineering will then be able to design the foundations and provide us with the drawings. The scope of work has not been confirmed to date; once Stan Elliott provides the information we will commence. Anmar would like us to be complete before Christmas!

Brookfield Power Generating Station Misc. Repairs
Dwayne should have this job wrapped up soon. He brought Terry G up to help him finish off the concrete work at Dunford GS, install the ice deflectors and install the canopies at the Wawa garage. The guys also did some extra foam spray insulation. They finished the purlin bracing at Scott GS and completed the overhead door modifications in Wawa. We need Dwayne back down here very soon and Kimmie needs his support and enthusiasm for her rec hockey games.
Photos:
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Tenaris Algoma Tubes Settling Pond Liner Replacement
This project is well under way and has had its share of unforeseen problems. KKC has most of the concrete work completed with the help of Gerry, Andy and Nick. General Contracting has been bailing out the "muck" from the settling pond but it is going very slowly. General can only take 3 loads per day to the City Landfill as that is all they will accept. The liner installation had to be pushed back until December 14th and we should be ready by then. Tim has been struggling with the project management on this job.
Photos:
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Praxair T900 Oxygen Plant
We have been doing a bit of work on this job and are waiting for our revised scope of work. General Contracting is finishing up the site work and Randy D had to fill in as Super for KKC. Once we get the new schedule we will be able to gear up for this one.

Essar #3 Heat Treat Furnace Foundations
Clinton is the PM on this project and Scott M is the Foreman. This job started on the last week of November. We had completed most of the work on this project last year until everything was put on hold by Essar Steel. The scope of work has been revised a bit as more work has been added to it. It shouldn't take to long to complete the concrete work on this one.

Essar No. 6 BF Cladding
Clinton provided pricing to S.I.S. for a small cladding job at the No. 6 Blast Furnace and was successful. This project was supposed to have started but it has been delayed; it should proceed shortly.

Algoma's Water Tower Inn Lobby Renovations
Ken S spent a lot of time negotiating with JJ on this one but we have finally started the demolition; Sid is the Super on this one. We had to remove the entire ceramic tile from the Lobby floor, which would have been quite labour intensive and noisy, Ken found a guy "on-line" from Toronto called Scrapey's. This fellow had a machine that removes the tile quickly and without much noise. He came up and completed the removals over a weekend. Sid has Paul and Doug working with him and has several subtrades from Southern Ontario on site. This is a rush job and JJ says it will be the most impressive Lobby in town! As always, JJ, complete with his pencil in his ear is assisting Sid oversee construction!
Photos:
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Sid, Clinton, KKC, Randy, Scott M, Dwayne, Wayne, Zak, JR and Jorge attended the CSAO Basic Auditing Principals on November 25th at the Water Tower Inn. The 5 hour course was very informative and now Bob has a bunch of helpers for his jobsite audits.

We will be holding our year end Management Safety Meeting on December 3rd. Items on the agenda include a review of our 2009 Objectives compared to our performance, a review of any accidents/Investigations, our new programs (8 of them), our new written and implemented Safety Management System, Project Safety Plans, our first project safety audit results, an open discussion and our 2010 Objectives. Should be a real barn burner!
We will then be holding our All Employees Health & Safety meeting to review the same items with all of our employees.

According to what was mentioned at the CSAO course, there are new propane regulations in effect and all current Propane Handling Certificates will become null and void as of December 31st of this year. In order to get a new valid certificate you have to take training with a certified instructor regarding the new regulations. Bob is lining up the training for all of our guys.

CONVENTIONS & SOCIAL EVENTS
Our staff Christmas Party is on Friday, December 4th at the Water Tower Inn. To bad we can't make it to the Construction Association party, it is on the same night.

David Orazietti held a Christmas Party Fundraiser on Saturday November 21st. Fern and I along with Marty & Brittany, Jim & Maureen and Wayne & Bev attended. We had a great time and got to meet several old friends. No surprise that Gino Biasucci won the door prize! Those horse shoes must be very uncomfortable!

RBC Dominion Securities donated $4,500.00 to the Soup Kitchen and served up lunch on November 14th and there was a one page feature article about it in the Sault Star. I have attached the article. They also issued a challenge to other businesses. Since our firm likes a good challenge, we have decided to take them up on it. If we donate $4,500.00 to the Soup Kitchen and serve up lunch, RBC will donate another $1,150.00 which is one week's food supply. I called Caroline Kelly to tell her we were on for it. So…we will be making our donation and serving up lunch on Thursday, December 10th. Our company response was fantastic; our Servers will be Fern and I, Clinton, Scarlett and her 12 year old Granddaughter plus her daughter Michelle, Shauna and her mother Stella, Tim, Fern's mother Marion and her friend Sylvia. That's 11 servers so no one should have to wait for their meal but might be "Too many cooks in the Kitchen." We have to be there for 9:30 am and will help make sandwiches for the next day. The meals are already prepared and we will serve them up cafeteria style at 11 am and be gone by 11:30 we have been told. I have been dealing with Calna McGoldrick and she is very excited. Caroline is going to try and line up some press coverage. I would like to put out another challenge to all businesses to take up the RBC challenge and make a $4,500.00 donation and serve up a lunch. I would like to see RBC pay out as much as possible, all for a very good cause. Let's all make a difference this year and give the Soup Kitchen a generous back-up in their bank account to make it through the winter without any financial worries. You can call Caroline Kelly at 759-7885 or Calna McGoldrick at 942-2694. GO FOR IT! (Pictures to follow next month)
Soup Kitchen article

Congratulations
Our Safety Director, Bob Ryckman is also a talented musician and a member of the Steeltown Silver Band. Bob has quite a talented family as well. The Band Master is his brother Garfield and his oldest brother Jerry and his daughter Erin are also members of the band and they all play in the cornet (Trumpet) section. They have 25 band members. They held their first stand alone Christmas concert at the Willowgrove United Church on Saturday, November 28th and played to a packed house of 380 people, their biggest crowd ever. They played a variety of religious and secular music to celebrate the season with some unique arrangements and styles including Swing, March and nostalgic numbers from Christmases past. They received a standing ovation for their efforts. Great job Bob. I understand that Bruce Strapp is also a member and does a mean number on the trombone! Bob says "he da bone man." Perhaps with the continued increase in fans they may have to play at the Essar Centre next. Sorry, Bob did not get us any pictures.

The December Birthday Club:
Andy S Dec. 7
Doug W Dec. 7
John B Dec. 12
Jake M Dec. 16
Ryan C Dec. 17
Bob H Dec. 19
Justin S Dec. 20
Mike M Dec. 27

Mike Moore & Sons Construction's Donation Status

2009 Donation Goal	50
Donations to Date	51

December Clinic Times
Monday, December 21st 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Tuesday, December 22nd 11:30 am to 2:30 pm & 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Wednesday, December 23rd 9:00 am to 12:30 pm

Congratulations to us, we have surpassed our goal of 50 donations and still have one clinic left. I thought I would post some of the other Partners for Life companies in the Sault and show how they are making out.

Company	Donations	Pledged
Essar Steel	112	100
Ministry of Labour	8	50
National Group	17	50
SSM EMS Services	15	20
SSM Fire Services	24	20
SSM Police Services	38	20

The overall Partners for Life for Ontario pledged 8,321 donations and they have made 6,133 to date. Not bad, that's about 73% but it would be better to be 110%.

Tibits

Here is a good one from Rob Maier.

Coffee
A Newfie woman of advanced age visits he doctor to ask his advice in reviving her husband's libido.
"What about trying Viagra?" asked the doctor.
"Not a chance" she said. "He won't even take aspirin."
"Not a problem" replied the doctor. "Give him a "Newfie Viagra."
"That's when you drop the Viagra tablet into his coffee. He won't even taste it.
Give it a try and call me in a week to let me know how things went."
It wasn't a week later when she called the doctor who directly inquired as to her progress.
She exclaimed "Oh, faith bejeezus have mercy! It was awful!"
"Really, what happened?" asked the doctor.
"Well, I did as you said 'n slipped it in his coffee. De effect was almost immediate. He jumped right up with dat twinkle in his eye and his pants a-bulging fiercely! With one swoop of his arm he sent da cups n' spoons flyin. Ripped me clothes ta bits and took me right dere passionately on the tabletop! It was wicked, absolutely wicked I tell ya!"
"Why so terrible?" asked the doctor, "Do you mean the sex your husband provided wasn't good?"
"Holy shit, twas the best sex I'd ever had in 25 years! But sure as I'm sittin here, I'll never be able to show me face in dat der Tim Horton's ever again!"

We now have 583,841 man hours with no Lost Time Injuries (LTI) or a total of 4,107 days. We only have 416,159 man hours to go to reach our goal of 1,000,000 accident free hours. Great job guys and keep it up please!

We have been having early stage discussions with a very large U.S. firm along with Matheson Constructors about forming a Joint Venture (JV) agreement. The U.S. company wants some exposure in Ontario and we could help them with a JV arrangement that would benefit all of us. More news to follow later.

We have been working on some preliminary budgets with Matheson Constructors for a wind turbine proposal for Bermuda. It is in the early stage development, we are not sure where this will go. Bermuda, humm…..sounds like a good winter project. Bet they don't get any of that white shit!

Dwayne's Kimmy now has 2 assists for her hockey team and says she is a Team Player. Dwayne tells me she had quite the debut. She went out of the gate onto the ice with her skate guards still on! Kim was quite embarrassed and one of her team mates told her that everybody does that, in the Tyke League!