GULF SHORES, Ala. – Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft was pretty excited about revealing the city’s new logo on Friday morning at the Public Beach.

He and city staffers, keeping it a secret until the last minute, covered up the new logo with banners and tarps over cars and stickers over shirts staffers were wearing that sported the logo. The press/media tent’s tables contained no releases lest the logo be revealed.

Everything had to be kept under wraps until just the right moment when all would be revealed publicly for the first time.

But Craft was excited about some other things, too. Some things he just had to share with the crowd of a 100 or so hearty, sun-baked souls.

“Y’all look at our beaches,” a beaming Craft said. “They are beautiful. But not only are they beautiful, they are clean. They’re so clean that the NRDC, the national institute that measures beaches for cleanliness and safety, has judged this beach as being one of the top 12 in country.”

Craft had more. Yet another beach within the shouting distance also made the list.

“One of the other top 12 in the country is also in our city limits at the Gulf State Park Pavilion beach,” he said. “So we’ve got two of the top 12 in the country.”

Craft pointed out to the crowd that the beach they were seeing Friday wasn’t the same beach in 2010.

“I think most of y’all were here in 2010 when we stood in this area and looked out over that beach,” he said. “It didn’t look anything like it does now. To have those kinds of awards and recognitions after it looking that way, oil in the water and oil on the beach, is just a phenomenal testimony to this community and to those folks who helped us recover. We’re just really proud of that.”

Craft was so happy, he even had kind words for BP.

“I’m going to use a word to describe BP that none of you are going to like, but hear me out,” he said. “Perfect. Because initially they were the perfect enemy. They did everything wrong. They were the bad guy without a doubt.

“But they didn’t leave. They stuck with us. They’re still here. And they’ve become the perfect partner to have in this if you compare them to the others we could have had.”

As he was speaking, great strides were being made to pass the RESTORE Act in Congress. Legislators from the five coastal states, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, have been pushing the bill for nearly a year.

The act would funnel 80 percent of the money BP is fined for violating the Clean Water Act with the 2010 spill to the five states for economic as well as environmental projects.

Passage by both houses was achieved during the day Friday.

“I’d also be a little remiss if I didn’t talk about the RESTORE Act,” Craft said. “The President has already scheduled a ceremony on Monday to sign it.”

How much the fine will be and how much eventually goes to each state remains a mystery.

“I’m pretty vague about what 80 percent of something means,” Craft said. “I can’t tell you what it’s going to be but the fines are estimated to be between $5 and $21 billion.

“That’s good news. What’s really good news is it’s restricted to only be spent within 25 miles of the coastal zone. That’s Mobile and Baldwin counties only.”

The 10-member panel from each state deciding how the money’s to be spent will be made up of local government officials. Three mayors from Baldwin and Mobile counties and one commissioner from each county, Gov. Robert Bentley and Jimmy Lyons of the Alabama State Docks will be the chairman.

“And the decisions will be made locally,” Craft said. “If its eligible local people will decide where the money goes. It doesn’t have to be reviewed by some outside panel.”

Craft likened it to a perfect end to an imperfect staining of beaches two years ago.

“This oil spill threatened things we can’t rebuild,” he said. “Our beaches, our environment, our fish, our water – we can’t rebuild that. And I always thought the worst thing that can happen to us is an Ivan or worse. Well, I was wrong because hurricanes destroy things we make. Things we make we can rebuild.”

Now about that new branding initiative:

“But branding, that’s why we’re here,” Craft said. “I just stole the opportunity to talk about other things that I think are equally as important.”