On or before the second Monday in December, in every year, each fire engine, hook and ladder, hose or supply company, and the board of trustees of any fire association or department, and any board of firewardens, which is under the supervision or control of any municipal governing body, board of fire commissioners, or nonprofit corporations and associations incorporated pursuant to N.J.S. 15A:1-1 et seq., and which is organized for and doing public fire duty in any municipality or fire district in this State, shall choose not more than three representatives, and the exempt firemen's association, if any such there be, shall choose not more than three representatives, who, together with the president, if any, of such fire association or department, and the chief, or, if there be no chief, then the next highest ranking officer, shall constitute a board of representatives, and shall have and exercise all the powers and perform all the duties herein committed to them, and shall hold office until their successors be chosen, and until their successors shall meet for the purpose of holding the annual election of officers, as provided in R.S. 43:17-12.
N.J.S. § 43:17-11