A town hall meeting was held at St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church at 6 p.m. July 2 as a follow-up to the meeting held a few weeks prior. Mayor Robert Donchez invited members of the South Bethlehem community to attend the meeting and voice their concerns.

Topics discussed at the meeting included bridge repairs, the contribution made by the Sands Casino, the pension system and public safety. Concerns were answered by the mayor as well as directed toward the head of department that was most responsible for dealing with the issue.

"Our next couple of years we're gonna have a lot of bridge work," Donchez said. He continued to speak about the status of Route 412 and the nearby bridges.

The Fahy bridge will undergo a complete reconstruction, costing 30 million dollars and taking 18 months to complete.Then the Lynn Avenue and Hill-to-Hill bridges will undergo construction.

The next topic addressed was the Sands Casino and its contribution to the city.

The city currently receives a $9.8 million host fee from the Sands, which pays for the Bethlehem police department.

Donchez told the attendees that as of this moment, 78 percent of the pension system is funded and that changes to the budget have been proposed for 2015.

"The city scored some wins in the last round of negotiations," Donchez said. "I would hope Harrisburg makes some changes."

The most prominent issue of the meeting was public safety, including crosswalks and speeding in the residential areas, first addressed by Linda Terrick. She said she felt her granddaughter would be unsafe while staying with her because of the cars that speed down her street.

Several members of the community joined the conversation and mentioned that cars speed through much of the city, drivers not stopping at crosswalks and have no respect for pedestrians. Additionally, Terrick added that she has seen pedestrians not abiding by the walk signs by traffic lights.

"Public safety has to be number one," Donchez said in response to the comments. The mayor and department members agreed to have a traffic and speed study done on a particularly problematic intersection.

Mayor Donchez added that he has an open door policy every second Monday of each month from 9 to 11 a.m. and 1 to 3 p.m., and that residents are welcome to visit, no appointment necessary.