Wilmington Weekly with Matt Purkey
Wilmington Weekly is a local podcast focused on Wilmington, Ohio City Council and how local government decisions actually work. Hosted by former Council President, Matt Purkey, the show provides context, explains process, and helps residents better understand what’s happening at city hall and why it matters.
Episodes
27 episodes
Episode Twenty-Seven - Council Preview (7/16/26)
A preview of Wilmington City Council’s July 16th meetings, workshop at 6, regular meeting at 7. On the agenda: third readings on the AZEK Group’s Prairie Road zoning and annexation, a same-night second and third reading on updated city salary r...
Episode Twenty-Six - Council Wrap Up (7/2/26) and Reflections
Thursday's council meeting produced two corrections to last week's preview: the CRA Housing Council appointment turned out to be two separate resolutions, and the data center zoning amendment did not reach final passage as expected. Matt covers...
Episode Twenty-Five - Council Preview (7/2/26)
Thursday’s Wilmington City Council meeting carries the heaviest agenda of the season. Council is set to give final passage to the data center zoning text amendment, the same use category currently being challenged in federal court, five days ah...
Episode Twenty-Four - Council Wrap Up (6/18/26) and Reflections
Council took data centers from a permitted use to a conditional one on the same night a separate rezoning locked one specific property out of ever becoming one. A fire department restructuring got its second presentation without becoming an ord...
Episode Twenty-Three - Council Preview (6/18/26)
Episode Twenty-Three previews Thursday's Wilmington City Council workshop and regular meeting. The meeting opens with two public hearings: a zoning text amendment touching the data center use category at the center of an active federal lawsuit,...
Episode Twenty-Two - Council Wrap Up (6/4/26) and Reflections
Episode Twenty-Two is the wrap-up from the Wilmington City Council meeting of June 4, 2026. Thursday night's meeting ran less than an hour. The agenda was light. But light meetings in a heavy season carry weight, and this one leaves out quite a...
Episode Twenty-One - Council Preview (6/4/26)
Thursday night is one of the lighter agendas of the year, but there is enough context worth understanding before the meeting. The workshop opens at 6:00 with Columbus Street parking. The regular meeting follows at 7:00 with the formal appointme...
Episode Twenty — Council Wrap-Up (5/21/26)
Episode Twenty is the wrap-up from the Wilmington City Council meeting of May 21, 2026. This episode opens with a disclosure: Matt served ten years on council, knows people involved, and is not neutral about Wilmington. This was not a usual mee...
Episode Nineteen - Council Preview (5/21/26)
Episode Nineteen is a preview of the Wilmington City Council meetings scheduled for Thursday, May 21, 2026. This episode covers both the 6:00 PM public workshop and the 7:00 PM regular council meeting. Workshop items include the swearing-in of ...
Episode Eighteen - Council Wrap Up (5/7/26) and Reflections
Episode Eighteen is the wrap-up from the Wilmington City Council meeting of May 7, 2026. This episode covers the city treasurer's financial overview, a water tower engineering supplement tied to the AWS data center project, the supplemental app...
Episode Seventeen. - Council Preview (5/7/26)
This episode previews the Wilmington City Council meeting scheduled for Thursday, May 7.The meeting includes a 6 p.m. public workshop followed by the regular Council meeting at 7 p.m.In this preview, I walk t...
Episode Sixteen -Council Wrap Up (4/16/26) and Reflections
This week’s Wilmington City Council meeting was shorter than usual, but it still covered a wide range of topics, including long-term fire department planning, routine legislation, and a fast-moving zoning change that raised important procedural...
Episode Fifteen - Council Preview (4/16/26)
In Episode Fifteen of Wilmington Weekly, Matt previews the Wilmington City Council workshop and regular meeting for Thursday, April 16, 2026.This week’s agenda includes a Wilmington Fire Department organizational structure upd...
Episode Fourteen - Council Wrap Up (4/2/26) and Reflections
In Episode Fourteen, Matt wraps up Wilmington City Council’s April 2, 2026 workshop and regular meeting. He covers the swearing-in of Officer McKenna Branham, Ron King’s introduction from the Clinton County Veterans Service Commission, the five...
Episode Thirteen - Council Preview (4/2/26)
Matt previews the April 2, 2026 Wilmington City Council meeting, including old business on downtown parking, infrastructure, landfill notes, and subdivision review, along with new business on Union Township fire and EMS service, cemetery fundin...
Episode Twelve - Council Wrap Up (3/19/26) and Reflections
This week’s episode covers both the 6:00 public workshop and the 7:00 regular Wilmington City Council meeting on March 19, 2026.That matters, because if you only watch the regular meeting, you miss most of the explanation and ...
Episode Eleven - Council Preview (3/19/26)
In this Wednesday preview, Matt walks through the Wilmington City Council agenda for Thursday, March 19, 2026.The workshop includes a presentation on downtown flowers, plus legislation review on Curtis Drive reconstruction, No...
Episode Ten - Special Episode - Public Works, Recycling, and Fluoride (3/9/26)
In this special episode, Matt takes a closer look at the March 9 Public Works Committee meeting and two issues that could be headed to full council.First, curbside recycling. The city’s own survey showed strong reported use ac...
Episode Nine - Council Wrap Up (3/5/26) and Reflections
This week’s episode walks through the Wilmington City Council workshop and regular meeting held on March 5, along with a Planning Commission discussion earlier in the week that focused on the growing debate around data centers in Wilmington.
Episode Eight - Council Preview (3/5/26)
In this episode of Wilmington Weekly, I preview the Wilmington City Council workshop and regular meeting scheduled for Thursday, March 5, 2026.Council will meet at 6:00 pm for a public workshop followed by the 7:00 pm regular ...
Episode Seven - Council Wrap Up (2/19/26) and Reflections
In this episode of Wilmington Weekly, we walk through the February 19, 2026 Wilmington City Council meeting in full.Council completed third readings and voted on annexation and rezoning ordinances covering approximately 545 ac...
Episode Six - Council Preview for 2/19/26 meeting
In this Wednesday preview, Matt Purkey walks through the full agenda for Wilmington City Council’s Thursday, February 19th meeting, including the 6:00 p.m. workshop and 7:00 p.m. regular session.Topics covered include:Swearing in ...
Episode Five - Council Wrap Up (2/5/26) and Reflections
This episode breaks down last week’s Wilmington City Council meeting with a focus on process, timing, and where decisions actually happen.Several rezoning ordinances tied to a proposed data center project advanced on second re...
Episode Four - Wednesday Preview for 2/5/26 meeting
This is a Wednesday preview of the upcoming Wilmington City Council meeting scheduled for Thursday, February 5 at 7:00 PM.In this episode, I walk through what’s on the agenda, how to follow the meeting, and what to pay attenti...
