Topeka on Saturday will again be known as "Topikachu" for a day.

Mayor Michelle De La Isla read a proclamation at Tuesday evening's City Council meeting announcing the temporary move, which will take effect on a day when Nintendo will provide the public a free preview opportunity to play two new Pokémon games for the Nintendo Switch. The "Pokémon Let's Go Road Trip" experience will be offered from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the parking lot of the Topeka Zoo at Gage Park.

Festivities planned for Saturday at the zoo are welcome news "for nerds like me who play Pokémon Go," De La Isla said.

The Pokémon Go game uses augmented reality to place virtual tools and creatures at indoor and outdoor locations, where players use their smartphones to find the tools and capture the creatures.

The experience being offered Saturday in Topeka will be made available to the public in only seven other cities: New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Dallas, Seattle and San Francisco.

Tuesday's announcement was reminiscent of the proclamation then-Mayor Joan Wagnon issued calling Topeka "Topikachu" for one day on Aug. 27, 1998, when Nintendo held its U.S. launch of the Pokémon video game in the capital city.

Nintendo chose Topeka because it was centrally located in the U.S. and its name was similar to that of Pikachu, the game's most popular character.

Councilman Tony Emerson was absent from Tuesday's evening. The city's governing body, consisting of the city council members and De La Isla, also voted 9-0 to enter into a three-year contract covering 2019 through 2021 with city street maintenance employees represented in collective bargaining by Teamsters Local No. 696.

The employees involved previously approved the contract, which provides a 1 percent across-the-board pay increase in each of the three years involved. The agreement arranges for all employees it covers to be paid at least $15 an hour while creating four classifications of workers and a comprehensive training program to ensure all employees can perform a wide variety of tasks.

In a meeting that lasted slightly more than two and a half hours, the governing body also:

• Voted 9-0 to renew the city's Neighborhood Revitalization Program through Dec. 31, 2021.

• Voted 9-0 to approve amendments to city zoning rules that quantify minimum building design and landscaping rules for new non-residential construction.

• Voted 6-3, with De La Isla and council members Sandra Clear and Mike Lesser dissenting, to remand back to the Topeka Planning Commission a proposal to amend city zoning rules related to landscaping and screening standards for new construction.

• Heard city manager Brent Trout reveal that city finance director Nickie Lee is leaving for a position in Smithville, Mo.

• Heard utilities director Bob Sample say the city plans to offer a "Citizens Utility Academy" in which citizens will be able to learn about the city's utility operations. He asked anyone interested in taking part to email him at rsample@topeka.org or Ryan Woolaway at rwoolaway@topeka.org.

• Heard a presentation about the third annual "Clean Slate Day" held Sept. 21 in Topeka Municipal Court from administrative judge Lori Dougherty-Bichsel.

• Heard Councilwoman Karen Hiller say that Lesser was recently named Kansas Agent of the Year by the Kansas Association of Insurance Agents.

• Met behind closed doors in executive session for 15 minutes to discuss attorney-client privileged matters.