Ada council announced the appointment of Noah Ristau, general manager of Ohio Northern University dining services, to fill the council vacancy created due to the death of Don Fleming. 

Council’s unanimous selection of Ristau was made following interview meetings on Oct 26 and 28. Ristau will be sworn in as a council member during the Nov. 10 meeting.

An announcement on the village website follows:

“On behalf of Ada village council, we are excited to have received 10 eligible letters of interest to fill the council seat left vacant by the passing of Don Fleming. Council took due diligence in considering each of the applicants, including interviewing each available candidate.

“The decision was not easy, thanks, in part, to the dedication and interest in public service that each of the applicants exhibited.”

Ristau is a four-year resident of the village of Ada. He moved here in June 2016 when he became general manager of the ONU dining service. He currently is vice president of the Ada Public Library board and is a trustee on the Springfield Museum of Art.

“I’m really grateful to be in Ada,” he said. “I am fascinated by how the village works. This is a welcoming community and I hope to apply my own sense of leadership as a council member.”

At ONU he oversees a program of 175 employees, which includes salaried, union, ONU and Ada High School students.

He has administered a $3 million capital improvement program to the ONU dining services, taking place over the summers of 2016 and 2017. In addition to residential dining services, he oversees five retail services, which include two campus Starbucks, COSI, a catering service and the Wow Café on campus.

Prior coming to Ada, Ristau was general manager of dining services at Wittenberg University, Springfield.

He holds a bachelor’s degree with a focus on financial management from the University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg, Virginia. Ristau told the Icon that he considers himself as an independent registered voter when it comes to political party designations.

Ristau will complete the four-year term of Fleming, which began on Jan. 1, 2018, and ends Dec. 31, 2021. 

He will join Ada’s council, which includes  Jeff Oestreich, Sheila Coressel, Linda Mason, Bob Simmons and Terry Keiser.