If the boat, barge or scow shall not have been removed at the expiration of said thirty days, the board of chosen freeholders may declare it a public nuisance and forfeited to the state and cause the same to be removed either by contract or otherwise. They may sell the wreck and cargo at public auction or otherwise to defray the expense of removal, or they may agree with the contractor removing the boat, barge or scow that the same, together with the cargo, shall form the whole or a part of the compensation of the contractor for the removal thereof.
N.J.S. § 12:4-6