In our context we are talking about a repeater that is not far from its users, physically, and probably does not have a superior antenna elevation. Its purpose it to "fill in" gaps that users might experience when using hand held radios with small antennas and/or low power. In our case, we have club members who may be all over Bushnell, whether grocery shopping, POTA at the Battlefield Park, shopping at WalMart, or many other places. And inside a vehicle, that flexible "rubber duck" is at more of a disadvantage, not to mention the noise from the dentist sign on CR 48 which wipes out almost everything!
The local repeater fills in these gaps with a stronger transmitter so that we can all hear each other, and being shorter range, there is more of a sense of community and even a kind of privacy compared to a wide-range and networked repeater such as the 030 machine.
Unfortunately there are other attachments to the KI4DYE repeater that make it not as suitable for local chats and that privacy. Apparently there are several linked systems that are linked to the 145.490 repeater, from anywhere around the country such as Texas, Wisconsin, and from other remote Echolink sites. These linked systems will compete with you for transmit time, not only for the distant operator but for sending their ID beacon, as well as time and temperature broadcasts.